Sonic Fusion
by GreenSonic21
Summary: Sonic the Hedgehog/Metroid Fusion crossover.
1. Prologue

It's another typical early afternoon in the city of Station Square. Potted flowers bloom, Flickies sing, adults are at their jobs, and it's just about the end of the school day. Oh, and Dr. Eggman once again flies over the city with another new plan for world domination. The doctor's newest model Egg Carrier casts its shadow over the city as the familiar X-Tornado flies towards it from the side, carrying Sonic (who is wing-riding), Tails, and Amy.

Scenes like this have become fairly normal for the people of Earth ever since Sonic charged into Dr. Eggman's base back on planet Mobius to stop him from using the power of the Chaos Emeralds for his energy amplifier. An accident occurred during their battle, and an uncontrolled Chaos Control blast sent Sonic, his friends, Dr. Eggman, his robotic assistants, and the Chaos Emeralds across dimensions until they wound up on planet Earth. With help from new friends like Christopher Thorndyke, his family, his butler and maid, and the military, Sonic and friends have continued their battle against Dr. Eggman to protect the people of Earth.

Having spotted the X-Tornado, Dr. Eggman puts his plan to steal the Master Emerald from Angel Island on hold to shoot his enemies out of the sky. All the cannons open fire on the aircraft, covering the sky with explosions, but Tails' flying skills are just too good, as they escape the aerial inferno without a scratch. Knowing that the people will be in danger if they fight above the city, Tails launches several missiles and Vulcan Cannon shots to get Eggman to follow them out to sea, like when they fought against the original Egg Fort.

Eggman quickly caught on to what Tails was attempting to do and said, "Decoe! Bocoe! Get the Egg Carrier back to my island fortress! I'll resume my dastardly plan once my Egg Wyvern blows that scrap heap out of the sky!" So saying, he climbed into his Eggmobile and took off for the hanger underneath the main deck. Sitting in the hanger was the Egg Wyvern, a massive robot resembling the creature of the same name. The robot is mostly red, with some spots of silver, black, and white as well. After his Eggmobile is attached to the top of the robot's head, Eggman initiated the launch sequence, and soon it shot out of its hanger, heading for the X-Tornado at a high speed!

Back on the Egg Carrier's bridge, as they turned the ship around to return to the island, Decoe and Bocoe started a conversation. "How badly do you think the boss is going to lose to Sonic this time?" Decoe asked. Bocoe replied, "I am sure that it would not be any worse than that time that creepy Sonic robot showed up." Suddenly, Dr. Eggman's messenger, Bokkun, piped up, "Who cares? As long as he's away, his stash of candy and ice cream is left unguarded!" Decoe and Bocoe panicked at this and, after setting the autopilot, chased after Bokkun to prevent him from going on a sugar rush.

Meanwhile, back above the Emerald Coast, Sonic has just caught sight of the Egg Wyvern and calls, "Heads up, Tails! Eggman's launching a new weapon at us! Do a barrel roll!" After checking the position of Eggman's attack, Tails sent the X-Tornado spinning, just narrowly missing the Egg Wyvern's rush!

After the X-Tornado came out of its spin and the Egg Wyvern slowed down enough for Eggman to turn around to face the X-Tornado, he called through the loudspeaker, "Impressive reflexes, fox boy! But my Egg Wyvern is more than a match for your puny X-Tornado!" He then began to charge up the Egg Wyvern's lasers, aiming them all for the X-Tornado and firing once the lock-on was confirmed. Before the attack could hit, Tails pulled a lever and shouted, "X-Tornado, switch to Battle Armor Mode!" The plane suddenly moved extremely quickly, causing the lasers to hit the water below, and transformed into a two armed ship! As Sonic and Tails prepared to battle, Amy opened the cockpit and summoned her Piko Piko Hammer as she climbed out and prepared for battle as well.

Eggman covered the cockpit with a protective canopy, then made the Egg Wyvern do an aerial flip before firing several electric projectiles out of the tail at the X-Tornado, only to be knocked down when Tails brought up the shield on the right arm. He then flew closer and brought out the blade on the left arm in an attempt to destroy the Egg Wyvern right away, but Eggman swooped out of the way and, after the X-Tornado stopped in midair, began to fly circles around it while everyone watched to see what Eggman would do. After flying around a few times, Eggman stopped and, after doing another flip, called, "Here I come!" He then broke into a glide as he went flying towards the X-Tornado!

Amy shouted, "He's going to ram into us!" Sonic ran onto one of the wings and called, "I've got an idea, Tails! On my signal, get beneath Eggman!" Once the Egg Wyvern was close enough, Sonic called, "Now!" and leapt off the wing towards Eggman while Tails and Amy got out of the way. Sonic grabbed onto the horn of the Egg Wyvern, holding on tight to avoid getting knocked off. As Eggman struggled to shake Sonic off, Tails got close with the X-Tornado once again, allowing Amy to leap towards the robot with her hammer ready. Once she was on top, she brought it down and shattered the canopy while Sonic grabbed her and got them both back onto the X-Tornado. "N-no! Not the canopy!" Eggman cried. "Hey Eggman, what's the matter?" Sonic called. Eggman growled back, "You! I'm not finished yet!"

Eggman quickly fired off the lasers again, one managing to hit the X-Tornado and causing it to shake and spark a bit in the air. In response, Tails fired the Vulcan Cannon at the Egg Wyvern, managing to hit several critical points on it in spite of the plane shaking. Taking this opportunity, Amy summoned her hammer once again and threw it at Eggman's robot, causing the Egg Wyvern to start spewing smoke! "This is it, Eggman! Prepare for another defeat!" Tails called. "Guh! I won't go down like this!" Eggman shouted.

While Tails held the X-Tornado stationary so it could stop shaking, Eggman once again began to circle it. "Tails, you'd better move! Eggman's up to something!" Amy called. Tails responded, "I can't yet, Amy! We could have a burn-out if we try to move now!" With his circling completed, Eggman went in for the victory, only to have Sonic break into a Spin Attack and go rushing towards him as he came in. Sonic's attack hit the control unit for the Egg Wyvern, causing it to fly off-course and miss the X-Tornado, Sonic hanging onto the robot to avoid falling into the water below. Before it exploded, Sonic revved up and made a leap when the robot was angled up towards the shore, using it as a makeshift ramp to jump for the beach!

As the Egg Wyvern exploded, the blast increased the distance of Sonic's jump, not only allowing him to land on the Emerald Coast beach, but also in a palm tree for a soft landing. As he looked back up, he saw Eggman escaping in his Eggmobile back to his island fortress.

After Sonic got down from the tree, Tails called down to him, "Way to go, Sonic! Want a lift back home?" Sonic called back up to him, "That's alright, Tails! I'm gonna go for a run, so I'll see you back at Chris' house in a little while!" Amy called down, "Be back soon! I'll bake you a nice surprise for your victory!" With that, she climbed back in the cockpit as the X-Tornado switched back to its regular form. Although it was still a bit damaged, it quickly took off back towards the Thorndyke mansion as Sonic took off running across the beach.

**Later…**

After running along the beach for a while, Sonic arrived at Emerald Town. He always enjoyed visiting the little beach town due to its laid-back atmosphere. It was built months ago by the government after Eggman had established a casino area called Night Babylon in an attempt to turn the people of Station Square into gambling addicts so he could earn more money for his doomsday machines. The plot was eventually stopped by Sonic, Tails, Rouge, and Chris, and afterwards, the government had it torn down and had a new town built in its place. Since then, the surrounding area had gotten back to its former green glory from before Eggman had built the casino.

Finding a relaxing spot under a palm tree on the beach, Sonic got comfortable and lazily watched the clouds drift by. Even he had to admit that the beach was a nice spot to relax, as long as it didn't involve going near the water. He began to drift off into a nap when a sound snapped him out of it.

Jumping to his feet, Sonic looked up at where the sound was coming from to see a military helicopter, seeming to be headed in the direction of Station Square. Wondering if something was going on, Sonic decided to head back to Chris' house and find out if anything had happened. Deciding to get some fun in on the way, he opted not to take the highway and instead headed through the Neo Green Hill Zone that was Emerald Town's most famous landmark, dashing over the checkerboard-patterned hills and through the corkscrews that reminded him of the Green Hill and Emerald Hill Zones back on Mobius as he headed for Station Square.

**Meanwhile, at Dr. Eggman's island fortress**

As the Eggmobile finally arrived at his island fortress, Eggman noted with some satisfaction that the Egg Carrier seemed to be back in its underground hanger. After that loss to Sonic, he was in no mood to go after the Master Emerald. Landing the Eggmobile on its landing pad, Eggman headed for his room, seeing Decoe and Bocoe struggling to keep Bokkun pinned to the ground as he walked.

"C'mon! I want my ice cream!!" Bokkun cried. "Your ice cream? It belongs to Dr. Eggman!" Decoe replied. "What was that?!" Eggman yelled. All three robots jumped to attention, Bocoe replying, "Oh, Dr. Eggman! After you left, Bokkun tried to raid your storage for sweets! We were trying to keep him from going crazy again!" Eggman glared at Bokkun and yelled, "How many times do I have to tell you?! Stay out of my Nutball Crunch Ice Cream!!" While Bokkun started bawling, Eggman went to the kitchen to fetch his "World's Best Boss" mug, filling it with hot water. As he grabbed a teabag, Bocoe asked, "What about your plan to steal the Master Emerald, doctor?" Dipping the teabag in the water, Eggman replied, "My Egg Wyvern was no good. I must come up with another strategic strategy and dastardly design before I go after the Master Emerald." Before going into his room, he said, "Make sure my El Gran Gordo case is spotless! And afterwards, I don't want to have to deal with any of your snooping as usual!"

Going inside and locking the door, Eggman set the mug down on the coffee table and sprawled out on his bed, grinning as he looked at the pictures of Ella, the housemaid for the Thorndykes, on the wall at the end of his bed, beginning to relax.

**At the Thorndyke mansion**

After running through the Neo Green Hill Zone, Sonic had been on the outskirts of the city, making it a short trip afterwards to reach the Thorndyke mansion. As he approached the gates, they opened to let him in and Mr. Tanaka opened the front doors of the mansion, greeting him as he slowed down.

Walking into the living room, Sonic was greeted by all of his friends. Tails, Amy, Cream the Rabbit and her Chao friend Cheese, her mother Vanilla, Chris, his grandfather Chuck, and the housemaid Ella. Amy revealed that she had baked Sonic a pie, and Tails added that it was a good thing Sonic had gotten back so soon or else he would've eaten it. This earned a laugh from everyone. Afterwards, they prepared to enjoy a snack and hear about what went on earlier when the sound of helicopter blades caught everyone's attention.

Everyone headed for the back door, since it seemed like the helicopter was landing on the landing pad in back. As they opened the door and stepped out, everyone was surprised. It was the military helicopter Sonic had seen earlier, and stepping out of the door on the side were Topaz, Rouge the Bat, and Shadow the Hedgehog, all top-ranking agents for G.U.N.'s military branch.

Sonic spoke first, "Shadow, what's going on?" The black hedgehog replied, "We are here to request your help, Sonic. It's a direct order from the president and Commander Tower."


	2. Military Mission Briefing

Everyone was gathered in the Thorndyke mansion's living room. Sonic was standing between the couch and the end table facing Shadow, who was standing on the other side, while Topaz was standing next to Mr. Tanaka, and Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Vanilla, Chris, Chuck, and Rouge were seated either in the chairs or on the couch. Ella had just returned with tea and scones to complement the pie Amy had baked, setting the teapot and tray down on the table and pouring tea for everyone.

"The tea smells good, Ella," Cream commented, Cheese adding "Chao-Chao!" She smiled and said, "Thank you, Cream and Cheese. I'm sure it will taste even better!" Tails said, "Whether you make it sweet or mild, it always is, Ella. I wonder what it'll be today." Rouge replied, "Well you'll know soon enough, foxy. But while we wait, we might as well get down to business. Don't you two think so?" Both Shadow and Topaz agreed with her, due to it being a bit of an urgent request.

Sonic spoke, "I didn't think the military would need to ask for our help anymore since they've got Team Dark on their side. What kind of mission are they doing where they need extra help, Shadow?" The black hedgehog replied, "To be honest, this isn't the sort of mission we're usually called upon to do. Still, Commander Tower asked us to take the mission, and the president suggested that we ask for your help." Chris asked, "But what is the mission? Is it dangerous?" Topaz spoke up, "It's being classified as an escort and protect mission, but it's not quite that simple." Sonic asked, "What do you mean?" Shadow said, "I'll explain. Commander Tower asked me to give you the details."

_**Earlier, at G.U.N. Headquarters**_

_Shadow stood atop the peak of Guardian Mountain, his arms crossed as he looked out over the sea. On a clear day like today, it was possible to see Soleanna, the city of water, from where he was standing, though he wasn't looking anywhere in particular. Suddenly, the communicator on his left wrist beeped, so he clicked it on with his right hand and held it closer to his mouth. A voice spoke, "Agent Shadow, Commander Tower has a new mission for you. Please report to the Briefing Room immediately." Shadow replied, "Understood," then switched his communicator off. Climbing down and opening the door in the side of the peak, he made his way back inside._

_As he made his way to the Briefing Room, Shadow passed through the Recreation Room, where agents on break were playing ping-pong, pinball, or watching or playing games on the TV, as well as the Gymnasium, where some agents were using the exercise equipment and E-123 Omega was sparring in the yellow circle with virtual opponents, all of them Eggman robots from over the years. As he passed Omega, Shadow muttered, "Hmph. Typical Omega." He knew that when Omega was not obliterating something in the Shooting Gallery, he was sparring with virtual robots when Shadow wasn't available. The walking arsenal hardly noticed Shadow had passed him at all, being so absorbed in his training like he normally was._

_Soon, Shadow arrived at the Briefing Room, noting that Rouge, Topaz, and her commander were also there. As he took a seat next to Rouge, he saw that Commander Tower and, surprisingly, the president were standing at the front of the room, waiting for him. The president greeted Shadow, who responded by merely nodding his head, waiting to hear what the mission was._

_Commander Tower spoke, "Alright, let's get this mission briefing underway. Agent, dim the lights." As ordered, an agent standing next to the image projector near the door pressed a switch on the wall and the lights dimmed, creating perfect lighting conditions to use an image projector in. As the agent got the projector ready, Rouge asked, "So what's this mission going to involve? More spying on Dr. Eggman?" The president answered, "No, Rouge. Dr. Eggman is not involved this time. You'll see in a moment."_

_The agent turned the projector on, a light coming from the front and going to the opposite wall, between Commander Tower and the president. As it came into contact with the wall, an image of a G.U.N. fleet in outer space appeared on the wall. The ships in the fleet looked similar to those that had been in the sky during the Black Arms' invasion, though these seemed more advanced than those ships. Commander Tower spoke, "As I'm sure you all remember, it was nearly a year ago that Black Doom and the Black Arms returned to Earth to claim the Chaos Emeralds and planet as their own. Their plan was stopped thanks to Shadow, Black Doom disappearing and the Black Arms fleeing Earth, likely returning to their homeworld. Unsure whether or not they would try to get revenge, we deployed several fleets like the one seen here in an effort to locate their homeworld."_

_At the commander's signal, the agent clicked a button on the projector, replacing the image with that of a group of the ships above a planet whose surface was green and brown, an asteroid belt visible near the ships. Commander Tower continued, "During these searches, one of our fleets discovered this remote planet, SR388, which is not found on many galactic charts. Despite its rough, rocky, and barren surface, a variety of life-forms were shown to be thriving on it. It was likely also colonized at some point, as ruins of an ancient race were uncovered during expeditions beneath the surface, as well as mechanical creatures that were likely left behind. But of the discoveries made on SR388, one particular species stands out the most. They were encountered by our teams during their research of the ruins, where they uncovered a name for it. They are known as Metroids."_

_Rouge spoke, "Metroids, eh? What sort of little beasties might those be?" The agent clicked the projector again, the image now showing a Metroid in its infant form from several angles. The president spoke, "In order to allow scientists to better investigate planet SR388, a space station was constructed inside one of the larger asteroids around the planet. It serves as a safe way of conducting investigations and research without the risk of putting the Earth in danger." As he listened, Shadow was a bit angry that the military would construct another space station after what happened aboard the ARK, though he was also relieved that the Earth wasn't being put in danger as well. The president continued, "The Metroids were among the creatures that were sent to the station to be researched. Research conducted on the Metroids aboard the station revealed much about them, including what makes them the most feared predator of the species on SR388. Research into the lore also revealed that Metroid stands for "Ultimate Warrior," and from what's been revealed, that may not be too far from the truth._

_Shadow, who did not understand how a species could be his equal or that they were a serious threat to a planet, stood up and said, "You can't be serious. How can those jellyfish be dangerous at all?" Commander Tower spoke, "I will explain that now, Shadow. They aren't something to be engaged without knowing more about them." Shadow settled back down into his seat, hoping that this was good, before the commander continued, "Despite their jellyfish-like appearance, Metroids are not strictly aquatic creatures. They are capable of levitating through the use of kinetic energy stored in their bodies, and are capable of sensing the life energy of their prey. Upon sensing and finding their prey, Metroids ram into their target, using one of their large mandibles to attach themselves, while the other is used to drain the target of its life energy."_

_Topaz stood up and asked, "Question, sir. What do you mean by life energy?" Commander Tower replied, "That's an excellent question, Topaz, one that puzzles even our scientists. Numerous observations and experiments have been done to determine what it is that Metroids live off of, but it remains a mystery, as they leave blood and internal organs intact, yet their victim still perishes. But because Metroids are energy-based organisms, scientists have come to call it life energy, which causes a Metroid to grow in size as it absorbs more. Because of their endless appetite, they will drain a victim completely of their life energy in a matter of moments, leaving little more than a dried husk behind." As Commander Tower spoke, the projector displayed images to give the agents an idea of what he was talking about._

_As Topaz sat back down, her commander stood up and asked, "But surely these Metroids have to fear being attacked themselves?" Commander Tower replied, "Unfortunately, no. From what we've seen, Metroids have no enemies and appear to be capable of evolving to higher forms." Another image appeared, showing a Metroid's natural life cycle. Commander Tower spoke, "As you can see here, there are several stages a Metroid goes through over the course of its life. I won't go into them now so that we may save time. And as far as weaknesses go, the only weakness Metroids are known to have is an extreme susceptibility to cold. And this weakness is likely the reason why we currently have a situation. Now that you're caught up, I will explain what the situation is."_

_A new image appeared, showing a massive volcano on the surface of SR388 as it was erupting. Commander Tower spoke, "Some months back, this volcano, which is one of the main entrances into the depths of SR388, erupted and expelled many layers of smoke and soot into the air, blocking out the sun. Because of that, temperatures dropped considerably, making the entire planet frigid. It came to a point where it began to kill off the Metroids, including a Metroid Queen that lived deep in the depths of the planet. All the Metroids that were being researched were also killed, though the teams were able to recover their cells and DNA for research. At this point, we don't know how many Metroids survived the colder temperatures, as we stopped having Metroids sent to the station after a small breakout occurred and we didn't want to risk any of their evolved forms getting loose. It was around this time when things began to get worse."_

_Another image appeared, this one showing a G.U.N. soldier clad in the usual protective gear needed on the surface attacking several soldiers and researchers. Shadow asked, "What is that?" Commander Tower explained, "That's another mystery. We continued to send teams down to explore and research, but this has recently begun to happen. Teams report that creatures, some of which haven't attacked them before, come after them and force them to use fatal force to get them to stop, as stunning them reportedly has little effect. But afterwards, the creatures become gelatinous and melt into something else that seemingly shrinks away to nothing. It doesn't always happen, but sometimes, soldiers may black out later, seemingly dead, but are later found or return alive, only to attack their allies."_

_Topaz asked, "And this has never happened before, sir?" Commander Tower replied, "Not once. Because of that, we believe that Metroids were predators to whatever this new threat is, and now that they're possibly extinct, this mysterious species is taking their place. And that brings us to your mission." The image was changed once again, this time showing a team of soldiers and scientists in protective wear. Commander Tower continued, "In order to identify this new enemy, we're sending this squad to investigate. However, it's clear that extreme precautions must be taken, so we're assigning you agents to accompany this squad while the scientists attempt to learn more about it."_

_Shadow spoke, "Why can't Omega come with? With him, Team Dark could destroy the threat before anything else happens." Commander Tower replied, "That's the point, Shadow. If he went, he would get all trigger-happy and wouldn't hesitate to wipe out anything that breathes." Shadow admitted that that was true, then the president added, "The other reason we want to learn about this mysterious assailant is to determine what it's capable of. After all, we first thought that the Metroids were just predators, but the research revealed that their energy can be harnessed in all sorts of ways, such as serving as organic batteries, similar to what Dr. Eggman does with some of his robots, and even the possibility of being used to create weaponry. And this might be even worse than if the Metroids fell into the wrong hands." Rouge spoke, "That's a good point, Mr. President. So is it going to be just us who will be helping those soldiers?" Commander Tower replied, "Normally, that would be the case, Rouge. But I have a feeling that it may require extra help." The president continued, "So because of that, we would like to ask for Sonic's help for this mission."_

_After a moment, Shadow asked, "And I suppose you want us to go ask him?" Commander Tower spoke, "It's going to take some time to get the transport ship ready to go. It will be something for you to do to pass the time. And seeing that the team will likely be divided up upon arrival, it would be better to have extra help. Just so long as he has some idea of what he'll be getting into if he agrees." Rouge said, "You want us to brief him on it, then see if he agrees or not. What if he says no?" Commander Tower replied, "Then we won't ask you to force him. But given the circumstances, there's a good chance he won't say no. If you have no more questions, a helicopter is ready to take you to the Thorndyke's mansion."_

_Shadow stood up and said, "Very well. Let's go." He then began to head for the exit, Rouge and Topaz following him. Topaz's commander chose to stay behind and help get the transport ready, while the president stayed to talk to Commander Tower for a few minutes. As they headed for the Hanger, they passed through several rooms along the way. Soon, they arrived at the Hanger and walked across the airfield to the helicopter that was waiting for them. Once they were all strapped in, the helicopter took off and exited the hanger, flying across the water to the north, towards Station Square._

**Present, at the Thorndyke's mansion**

"And that's the mission in its entirety," Shadow concluded. Sonic nodded, thinking about what Shadow had said, as was everyone else. Rouge set down her tea and asked, "So what do you say, blue boy? You feel like tagging along?" Sonic thought a moment, then said, "I don't exactly like the sound of this, so I'm in. But if it's alright, I'd like Tails and Amy to come too." Shadow nodded, "They can come. Anything else?" Sonic shook his head, so Topaz said, "Then let's go. The chopper's waiting." They headed for the door, Amy hugging Sonic tightly while Tails was happy to be coming with. As Shadow, Rouge, Topaz, Tails, and Amy walked out, Chris came up to Sonic and said, "Sonic, I want to go too." Sonic looked back at him and said, "Chris, I know you mean well, but there's no telling what could happen. And I don't want anything to happen to you." Chris agreed to stay behind after a moment, Sonic looking at him a moment longer before heading out to join his friends in the helicopter. As it lifted into the air and headed in the direction of the Mystic Ruins and Guardian Mountain, Chris continued to watch it, a deep feeling of fear within him.

**Later…**

Upon arrival at G.U.N. HQ, the group found that the transport was loaded up and just about ready for launch, holding position at the base of Guardian Mountain. After Shadow reported in with Commander Tower, he led them to the base of the mountain, where they boarded with the rest of the crew. After they settled in, the transport took off and flew into the sky, heading into space where it rendezvoused with the fleet that was holding position above the Earth. After dropping off the crew and supplies, the transport headed back to HQ while the fleet began to make the long trip to Planet SR388, flying past Space Colony ARK and into the blackness of space.

**Meanwhile…**

Back at the base of the mountain, a man dressed like an agent looked around to make sure no one was in the area. Confident that he was alone, he pulled out a handheld communicator and held it to his mouth, clicking it on and saying, "This is Watcher reporting in. I've found something interesting…"


	3. The New Enemy Revealed

High above planet SR388, several beams of aurora-colored streams of light appeared near the asteroid belt, flashing as they went straight from their origin. From these streams, G.U.N. ships appeared, first appearing the same color as the streams before fading into their normal colors. This was because, after the ships were a fair distance away from Earth and Space Colony ARK, they had activated their new Warp Field Drivers, which were originally created by Tails for use with his new battleship, the Blue Typhoon, which he was almost finished with.

Aboard one of the ships, a voice crackled through the loudspeakers in the crew's quarters, "Attention. We have arrived at planet SR388. All crew members taking part in the investigation on the surface are to report to the bridge immediately." At this announcement, many of the doors in the quarters opened up, Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Amy, Rouge, Topaz, and several other G.U.N. soldiers and researchers exiting their rooms as they headed for the bridge. As he walked next to Sonic, Shadow whispered, "Remember that this is an escort mission, not an opportunity to explore, Sonic. You stick to your orders at all times, got it?" Sonic whispered back, "Relax, Shadow. I know the drill. I'm not gonna abandon anyone or take off looking for fun." As she watched the two whisper, Rouge thought, "_My-my-my... They've really come a long way in their relationship. I'm sure Shadow would never consider the possibility of them being friends, though._"

Soon, everyone arrived at the bridge, where they found Topaz's commander waiting for them. Since the main commander was on the leading ship, he was in charge of going over the situation one last time in his stead. Once everyone arrived, he began, "Alright, listen up. Thanks to the new Warp Field Driver developed by Miles Prower, or Tails..." he paused to gesture to Tails, who, although a bit nervous, seemed happy to know that the device was working as test results said it should. He then continued, "We are currently holding position close to the research station, simply known as the Space Research Labs or SRL, which is set along the path of SR388's orbit. The planet is still a fair distance away at this point, but per command's orders, the command ships will be holding position here. From here, our researchers will go on the transport ship, while us agents and our guests take the one-man spaceships. This is because there is a tendency for asteroids to drift out of the belt and we need to make sure our transport has a clear path, as it is unarmed. The rest of the mission will be explained once we arrive at the rendezvous point and have a temporary base set up. Understood?" At everyone's assertion, he reminded everyone to get their protective respiratory gear on their way down to the hanger.

Stopping in the room where the gear was stored, everyone found the suit that they had been assigned and began to put it on. Sonic's outfit was mostly red with spots of black and white on various parts of it, in addition to having a pair of Soap shoes that his shoes could fit in and his name on the left side of the chest. Shadow's outfit was similar, though it was black with white spots and, like Sonic's regular shoes, his air shoes fit into the black, white, and yellow shoes that it came with. Amy, Tails, and Rouge's outfits looked similar to the two hedgehogs' outfits, though Rouge's was black and red with spots of white, Amy's was black with spots of white and yellow, and Tails' was mostly yellow and orange with spots of black and brown. Tails' outfit also came with a similarly colored communicator device that he attached just beneath his left ear. With their outfits on, the five put on their helmets and oxygen tanks, just like Topaz and the rest of the crew. They didn't know if they could breathe the air down on the surface, but they weren't going to risk it.

Once everyone was suited up, Sonic, Tails, and Amy followed Shadow, Rouge, and Topaz to the hangar. There they saw ships that resembled the Blue Eagle and Vulcan Fighter jets, as well as a ship that resembled the president's escape pod. They all looked considerably more advanced though, likely because they were built to be capable of space travel. Once the scientists were all loaded into the transport, Sonic and the others each found a ship for themselves and climbed aboard. Once all the preflight checks were taken care of, the one-man ships took off first with the transport following behind to allow some distance in case something were to happen.

The trip down to the surface was, more or less, uneventful. A few times, it seemed like an asteroid was going to come into their flight path, but none of them ever did. As they were flying, they passed by the SRL station, seeing the lights coming from inside the asteroid and the docking ring that went around it. After a while, planet SR388 began to get bigger as they got closer. Their ships passed through the atmosphere and headed for the rendezvous point. Everyone then assisted in unloading the supplies and materials from the transport, then began to set up a small temporary outpost.

Once the building was constructed and everything was hooked up, one of the soldiers turned on a computer and typed in the frequency for the main ship in the fleet. After a minute, the main view screen turned on and showed the main commander of the fleet. He spoke, "Now that everyone has arrived safely, let me explain what you will be doing. Four groups have been put together, each consisting of one researcher and three escorts. The groups were put together based on how well each member works with each other. Over the course of the next hour, each group will fan out across SR388 and attempt to locate the new danger. After one hour, you will use the teleportation devices that are attached to each of your suits to come back here, where each group will report their findings. I will now read the groups and who is in each. The first group will consist of Shadow, Rouge, Topaz, and Dr. William." Shadow simply continued to stand there, fine with his group, while Topaz whispered to Rouge, "Remember not to get in any clashes, alright?" Rouge replied, "Topaz, I wouldn't talk about clashing if I was wearing that shade of green." Topaz looked down at the green respiratory suit she wore, then muttered, "Very funny."

The commander continued, "In the second group, we have put Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Dr. Garnet together." Amy hugged Sonic happily, while Tails began to talk with Dr. Garnet, finding she was a very big fan of Sonic and him, along with the rest of Sonic's friends. While this was going on, the commander finished reading off the rest of the groups, then sent them out to start looking. Sonic's group headed north from the base, Shadow's group went to the west, and the other two groups split off to the east and south.

**Shadow's group**

Shadow, Rouge, Topaz, and Dr. William walked into a part of the underground ruins, having found a cave connected to it. They walked carefully, keeping an eye out for anything that seemed suspicious. Dr. William also kept a constant eye on the device in his hand, which was capable of detecting bio-signs, hoping he could track their enemy before it attacked them.

Climbing onto a carved stone, a fireball suddenly flew over their heads! Looking over another carved stone, Shadow noticed something mounted on the wall that had the appearance of a bird's head. Dr. William looked at it a moment before telling Shadow that it was a Wallfire, an immobile sentry that seemingly activates when it detects the presence of an unknown lifeform. Rouge leapt over them and went flying towards it before shouting, "Screw Kick!" At that, she whirled around like a top and smashed her feet into the sentry, putting it out of commission. Topaz called, "Heads up, Rouge! We're detecting more in this area!" Shadow noticed one mounted on the base of the stone they were standing on, causing him to use a Chaos Spear to destroy it before Rouge could land and get hit. Topaz helped as well by destroying one that was mounted on a pillar ahead of them, allowing Shadow and Rouge to destroy the last two that were just past it. With that done, they continued onward with the search.

**Sonic's group**

Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Dr. Garnet walked through a cave that had some subterranean plants growing along the ground. Like Dr. William, Dr. Garnet was keeping a constant eye on the device, watching for bio-signs. "It's a little creepy when it's this quiet," Tails commented, trying to calm himself from his slight worry. "Don't worry, Tails. Sonic's here, and he's not going to let anything happen to us. Right, Sonic?" Amy asked. Sonic replied, "Sure, Amy. Just what you said." Tails glanced around a bit, still a bit nervous but not as much as before.

As they walked, they came across a brown, dried husk of something. "What's that?" Sonic wondered. Dr. Garnet walked over to it and examined it carefully. After a minute, she answered, "It appears to be the membrane of an infant Metroid. Sometimes when they evolve into Alpha Metroids, they leave behind the old shell. But this has clearly been here for a while. The Metroid itself probably perished when the temperature dropped." Amy looked around and said, "Even when we were aboveground, it felt cold. Are the temperatures still not back to normal yet?" Dr. Garnet replied, "Yes, unfortunately. It's only recently that the layer of smoke and soot has begun to dissipate. But our suits will keep us from feeling the more frigid temperatures. They were designed that way." Tails asked, "You mean it's like a kind of shielding?" Dr. Garnet replied, "Correct, Tails. It was derived from alien technology discovered here."

Before anyone could say anything more, beeping came from the device, and the doctor looked at it. She said, "Strange... It says that there are bio-signs very close to us." Tails looked around and, upon seeing nothing, glanced up to see three large flying creatures above them! They had their mouths open and something was beginning to ooze out. Tails called, "Look out! They're above us!" At Tails' cry, Sonic sprung into action and grabbed everyone, getting them to safety by the time the red liquid the creatures released from their mouths hit the ground.

Looking up at the creatures, Dr. Garnet said, "Those are Drivel! That acid they drip can burn through the toughest metals in a matter of moments!" Sonic replied, "Really? Well between the three of us, they'll be gone in a matter of moments!" Sonic launched into a Spin Dash, his suit being designed to allow him to do it, slamming into the farthest one to distract the two he just passed. While they were distracted, Amy swung her Piko Piko Hammer into one, while Tails brought his two tails around to whack the other one. Amy smashed hers, while Tails' tails sent the other one flying into a wall, where it exploded. Sonic grinned, "Heh, that didn't take long at all. That was great, guys!" Amy giggled at this, while Tails smiled behind his helmet. After Dr. Garnet congratulated them, they continued deeper into the cave.

**One hour later...**

Many beams of light appeared near the G.U.N. base, fading to reveal the groups. The soldier from before once again patched the main commander through so he could hear how the searches went, but everyone reported that their search had turned up nothing. "Alright, that's enough for now. Study the maps of SR388 and start thinking of some locations to explore next time. We need to at least get a lead before we return to Earth."

Suddenly, one of the monitors began to flash wildly while a robotic female voice said, "Warning, unknown bio-sign detected. Warning, unknown bio-sign detected." Tails ran over to the monitor and looked over the information on the monitor. "What's going on down there?" the commander yelled. Tails called, "According to the system, there's an unregistered bio-form located in a cave near here!" Sonic said, "Maybe it's our mystery foe!" Shadow agreed to this and asked one of the agents for a light, saying that he, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Rouge would go investigate.

Quickly coming to the mouth of the cave, the five went in, guided by the light Shadow had borrowed. The ceiling of the path was low, so they didn't see any creatures as they walked. They continued to look though, guided by the beeping device that was ready to collect information. Eventually, it led them to a light a short distance ahead of them.

When they reached the light, they saw sunlight shining in from the higher ceiling in this portion of the cave. As they continued walking, they spotted a single life-form at the other end. "Ew, what is that? Is that what the thing we're looking for?" Amy asked. Rouge answered, "Doesn't look like it, pinky. I did some research while we were traveling. It's just a Hornoad, some creature that jumps up and down, occasionally shooting acid from their mouth or biting anything they see." Shadow growled, "That was pointless. When we get back, you'd better get that device fixed, Tails." But Tails turned to him and replied, "There's nothing wrong with this device, Shadow. There's definitely something different about this Hornoad."

While Shadow and Tails continued to argue a bit while everyone looked on, the Hornoad took notice of them and began to sneak closer. When it was close enough, it suddenly leapt into the air and came flying at Shadow with its fangs extended! Sonic caught sight of it and, while dashing, yelled, "Shadow, look out!" Shadow turned around to see the Hornoad about to bring its fangs down on him, when Sonic suddenly jumped in front of Shadow and brought his right arm in front of him as if to stop it! The upper fangs sank into Sonic's arm, breaking through the suit and his skin, causing him to shout in pain! Shadow growled, "You bas-!" He then jumped to Sonic's side and swung his fist into it, breaking the teeth from its upper jaw while sending it flying back. While Tails and Amy came over to help Sonic, who had dropped to one knee while clutching his arm, Shadow launched a Chaos Spear at it while Rouge threw one of her ball bombs at it. The two impacted at the same time, enveloping the creature in an explosion.

They then came over to Sonic, Rouge asking, "Sonic, are you alright?" Sonic stood up and groaned, "Don't worry about it. It's not that bad." He then looked back at where the Hornoad was and his eyes widened, "Hey, what's happening to that thing?" Everyone turned their attention back to the Hornoad to see that its body seemed to be distorting until it turned into a basketball-sized, floating gelatinous form. "Gelatinous? Wait, didn't Commander Tower mention that some of the creatures here dissolve into something gelatinous?" Tails exclaimed. "You're right, Tails! That must be the enemy! Scan it, quick!" Sonic yelled. While the creature floated in place, Tails brought the device up and switched it to its scanner mode, trying to collect as much information as he could before it disappeared. The device completed its scan as the creature seemingly shrunk away. After the data from the scan was stored and the fangs left behind had been removed from Sonic's arm, Tails gave him a bandage so he could apply pressure to it until they got back to the base. With that, Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport them all back to the base, as he was in no mood to rely on some gadget to get them back quickly.

**Later...**

Sonic sat in one of the chairs in the base, his arm now bandaged properly. At this point, the scientists had taken the information gathered from the device and began to classify the mysterious enemy as a parasite, naming it X due to the way it seemed to constantly appear in the shape of the letter "X." The commander ordered everyone to return to the fleet, wanting to return to Earth to process the information before anything was done about the X. With that order, everyone returned to their ships, removed their helmets, and took off, heading back towards the fleet.

**Soon, near the asteroid belt**

As they neared the fleet, Sonic's friends were talking about the X through the radio. "What I don't get is how that thing was able to appear in the shape of Hornoad, or any other creature for that matter," Tails was saying. "Well that's why we're going back, foxy. So we can figure that out, right?" Rouge asked. "Yeah, but if any other X decide to mess with my Sonic, they're going to hear it from me!" Amy fumed. "Uh, yeah... What do you think, Sonic?" Tails asked.

Surprisingly, there came no response from Sonic's end of the radio. But Sonic wasn't giving them the silent treatment. His hands clutched at the controls tightly as he was sweating profusely, his eyes wide as if seeing an unnamable terror. Through the haze that was beginning to cloud his mind, he could feel something within him. All of a sudden, his vision went black, and he collapsed face-first onto the control panel.

Sonic's collapse caused the ship to suddenly break off from the rest of the ships, heading straight towards the asteroid belt! "Sonic, what's wrong!" Tails cried. Still no response came from Sonic as his ship got closer and closer to the asteroids. Shadow, unable to watch this any longer, bashed open the glass surrounding the cockpit and activated his air shoes to go after Sonic's ship. "_At the speed he's going at, this is going to be close... I shouldn't have left my Chaos Emerald back on Earth,_" he thought as he took off after the ship. Tails, Amy, Rouge, Topaz, and everyone else watched on in silent horror and anticipation as Shadow chased after the ship. As he got close, Shadow went into a Spin Dash just as Sonic was seconds from impact. All of a sudden...

KA-BOOM!

* * *

Sonic and Shadow's suits were inspired by their secret costumes from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.

Amy's suit was inspired by Knuckles' secret costume from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.

Tails and Rouge's suits were inspired by the secret costumes for Sonic and Shadow in Sonic Adventure 2.

I'll try to work on the next chapter soon.


	4. Sonic Under the Knife

**Thorndyke mansion**

Chris, his parents, Chuck, Mr. Tanaka, Ella, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese, Vanilla, and the Chaotix were all in the backyard, enjoying a little get-together. Since Chris' parents found some time to come home, they decided to have a small party for everyone. Knuckles felt like coming as well, so he brought the Master Emerald with him, just like he did the last time he attended a party at the Thorndyke mansion. Ella was supervising Nelson and Lindsey as they lit up the grill, remembering that they nearly set it on fire the last time they used it, while everyone was sitting at the nearby table talking.

"So why'd you decide to come out here anyway, Knuckles?" Vector asked. "I don't know, Vector. Guess I just felt like leaving Angel Island for a little while. As long as I take the Master Emerald with, then it's okay, I think," the echidna replied. "You're always so serious, Knuckles! You need to loosen up and be like me!" Charmy chimed, which got him a face full of Vector's hand. "We don't need another hyperactive ball of energy, Charmy. Especially one that's supposed to stay focused," Espio said while Charmy continued to struggle against Vector's hand.

"I half-expected Sonic to not be here, but I didn't think Tails and Amy wouldn't be here either. Where are they?" Knuckles wondered. Cream spoke up, "Mr. Shadow called Mr. Sonic for a mission, Knuckles, and Sonic wanted Tails and Amy to come with. That was yesterday." Knuckles brought a hand to his chin, "Hmm, I was wondering what those military ships were for. So that was them, huh? Thanks for telling me, Cream." Cream nodded politely at this.

Chris sat at the far end of the table, looking down at it. His mood hadn't changed since yesterday; he was still extremely worried about Sonic and his friends. For some reason, when he had heard about the mission from Shadow, something within him told him that if Sonic and his friends were to go, he might never see them again. Although he had been very happy when his parents came home unexpectedly, the thought had returned quickly and had been messing with him somewhat.

Mr. Tanaka walked up behind him and asked, "Master Chris, are you feeling alright?" Chris turned to look at him and said, "Uh, yeah. I'm fine, Mr. Tanaka." Mr. Tanaka shook his head, "No. You are worried about Sonic, are you not?" Chris looked down, knowing that there was no way for him to deny it. Chuck, who was sitting next to Chris, put an arm on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Chris. You know what Sonic is like. He can act reckless at times, and he might not always be so agreeable. But he never hesitates to help someone who needs it, and he always fights for his friends and what he believes in. He'll come back soon, and I'm sure he'll be just fine. Just be sure to keep thinking that, okay?" Chris nodded, thanking Chuck.

**A few minutes later...**

After Nelson finally managed to put enough lighter fluid in the grill without the risk that it would explode, the various foodstuffs were laid out across it to cook. While Ella was keeping an eye on everything to make sure it didn't get overcooked, everyone was still talking about recent events they had gone through. When Vector was about to tell a tale about uncovering an old Badnik plant in one of Eggman's old bases, Espio suddenly noticed several aurora-colored streams appear in the sky above. As everyone watched, they took on the appearance of G.U.N. ships, first being colored the same as the streams, then fading to their normal colors.

As the ships began to head back for G.U.N. HQ, Knuckles commented, "Heh, that was quick. Wonder how that mission they were on went?" Espio said, "I'm sure they'll tell us about it once they're back on the ground." Charmy squealed, "Those were pretty colors! And now they're big ships! That's so cool!" Vector turned to Charmy and said, "Charmy, I thought I told you to sit down and be quiet!" This earned a bit of a laugh from everyone.

As they watched the ships, they became aware of a smaller ship that had launched from one of them, moving away from them, seemingly with a different destination in mind. "What's that smaller ship doing?" Knuckles wondered. Chuck looked at a little closer and said, "I've seen that type of ship before. It's used to transport anyone who needs urgent medical attention." At this, Chris began to get worried again and asked, "Grandpa, do you think Sonic could be on board that ship?" Chuck turned to him and said, "Chris, I admit that the thought is worrying, but we can't just jump to conclusions like that."

Knuckles stood up and asked, "Hey, Chuck, do you know how to fly the X-Tornado?" Chuck answered, "Yes, why?" Knuckles replied, "I want to put the Master Emerald back so that Angel Island can start floating again. Then I'm going to go see what's going on." Chuck said, "Knuckles, don't tell me you think Sonic is aboard that ship too." The red echidna replied, "I'd like to think not, but who knows what happened on their mission. I want to know now!" Cream and the Chaotix agreed with him, so Chuck agreed to take everyone in the X-Tornado so they could drop the Master Emerald off, then follow the ship to its destination to see if they could find out what had happened.

As they headed for Chuck's lab, where the X-Tornado was stored, Ella sighed, "Why does something like this always come up whenever we try to have a nice get-together?"

**Later, at a special government hospital**

The sliding doors at the landing pad of the hospital suddenly opened as a stretcher was rolled through, the paramedic pushing it from behind while two of her assistants pushed from the sides. Atop the stretcher lay Sonic the Hedgehog, his body hardly making any movements of its own as the stretcher moved through the hallways of the hospital.

"Hurry up, you two! Keep moving! This is a serious condition we're looking at here!" the paramedic yelled as they hurried through the halls. "We know, we're hurrying. I just hope the doctor will be able to help Sonic," one of her assistants said as they ran. "Well, that's why we need to move! Now hurry! We've got to get him to ICU, stat!" the paramedic shouted.

Upon arrival at intensive care unit, Sonic's stretcher was moved near one of the beds and they laid him on it. They then took the tubes from the machines around it and attached them to his body, hooking him to a life-support system and scanning equipment. After examining everything carefully, the paramedic said, "Alright, he's properly hooked up. I'll go get the doctor. Keep an eye on him!" She left the room, leaving Sonic in the care of her two team members while she searched.

**In front of the hospital**

The X-Tornado shifted to X-Cyclone mode as it landed in front of the hospital. After it crouched down, Chuck, Chris, Cream, and Cheese climbed out of the seats, while Knuckles and the Chaotix hopped off of it. Going inside, they were surprised and worried to see Tails, Amy, Rouge, Shadow, and Topaz standing in the lobby.

Knuckles ran over to Tails and Amy, asking, "Hey, what's going on?! Where's Sonic?!" Both Tails and Amy looked at each other for a moment, then at the floor as Tails said, "Sonic... He's... In the back..." Knuckles eyes went wide and he yelled, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE'S IN THE BACK!?! WHAT HAPPENED!?!" Rouge reluctantly came over and explained, "While we were on the mission, Sonic stopped a creature that was going to attack Shadow. After it was defeated, it took on its true form, the parasite we now know as X."

Chuck asked, "X?" Rouge nodded and said, "The X are capable of infecting anything organic, at which point they seem to multiply within the body until they kill off their host. At that point, they take control of its body and use it for their own needs. It's all just like we originally mentioned." Espio spoke, "Hold on. Are you saying that Sonic was infected by one of those things?" Tails looked up and said, "I'm afraid so. When that creature attacked Sonic, it broke some skin on his arm. Once it reverted back to its true form, it shrunk down and must've attacked him when we couldn't see it. We found out it was the X after he lost consciousness and was examined back aboard the ship." Chris spoke, "But... Is Sonic going to be okay?" Tails looked away, Amy began crying, and Rouge softly spoke, "I don't know, kid... Unless he gets some kind of a miracle, I don't think we can count on it..."

Shadow stood in a corner away from everyone as they talked, hardly listening to what they were saying. His mind was elsewhere. He remembered just barely Spin Dashing through the cockpit of Sonic's ship before it collided with one of the asteroids. Tails had swooped in and picked them up, both hedgehogs riding on the back of his ship. Shadow was initially going to shake Sonic and have a few words for him, but that quickly changed. Even at that point, it was clear there was something very wrong with Sonic. His seemed to be breathing erratically, and he hardly moved at all as they were returning to the fleet. It was like watching him slowly die in front of his eyes. He gritted his teeth as he whispered, "Blast it! If I had been more alert, this wouldn't have happened! Don't die on me, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

**In the briefing room**

Several doctors and assistants were in the briefing room, the X having been analyzed while Sonic was being transported. The head of the R&D department explained the procedure to the general surgeon who was going to be operating on Sonic. It was still a test, so they were going to put it through its trial by going into Sonic's right arm, where he had received his injury. After the procedure was fully explained, they moved into the operating room, where Sonic lay on the bed.

After his arm was disinfected, the doctor used the scalpel to open Sonic's arm, where they found an X nestled. Everyone was wearing special protective gear so as not to cause an outbreak. Grabbing a syringe, the doctor dipped it into a solution that a nanomachine within it, which would drag the core of the X out, at which point it could be destroyed with an experimental surgical laser. It caused a reaction within the X, eventually revealing the X's core. Once it was exposed, the laser was used to burn it until there was nothing left. However, it came back! The procedure was repeated once again, with the same results. It was at this point that the procedure had to be aborted, as it was becoming clear that the X in the rest of his body were not taking the intrusion very well. Before they moved Sonic back to the ICU, they surgically removed several skin and quill samples for further study.

After Sonic was back in his bed, the doctors began to wonder if there was any hope for him at all. Even if they could safely remove the X in most of his body, they couldn't do it for every part of him. They were particularly worried about his central nervous system, where the X had established a stronghold. If they were to operate on that area, even if no mistakes were made, it wouldn't take much for either them or the X to end his life. Hopefully, the samples they had taken from Sonic would provide answers, and soon.

While they were thinking, the door suddenly burst open, and a doctor none of the medical staff in the room had ever seen before ran in. "Listen, I know I'm intruding, but I believe I have a way to save Sonic the Hedgehog!" he exclaimed, which gave him everyone's full attention. Pulling out a vial of green liquid, he explained, "Thanks to the cooperation of the military, I received several samples of Metroid cells. Using one of these, I was able to create this vaccine. It should eradicate the X within his body, because when the Metroids were still alive, the X were kept in check, likely by the Metroids. I believe a serum made from one of their cells should have the same effect." Everyone agreed to this, and they got to work. The serum was soon prepared and ready to be injected. As they prepared to inject it, they noticed that the doctor had seemingly disappeared, which confused them. Still, they injected the serum and waited to see what would happen.

**Soon, in the hospital lobby**

Sonic's friends were either seated around the lobby or pacing worriedly. Amy, Cream, and Cheese were in tears, worried about Sonic, Tails and Chris were trying their best to not break down just yet, and everyone else occasionally glanced over at the doors once in a while. They could not stand this waiting when Sonic's life might be in danger.

Suddenly, the doors swung open and the doctor who had operated on Sonic stepped out. Seeing Sonic's friends, he told them that the X within Sonic were destroyed and he had just regained consciousness. Everyone was relieved to hear this and followed him down the hallway to Sonic's room. As they walked, he explained that Sonic was going to need to stay in the hospital for a little while since his nervous system had been damaged a bit by the X. They were fine with that, just so long as Sonic was alive; that was enough for now.

The doctor allowed Tails, Amy, and Chris to go in first, since the room wasn't big enough for all of them. Walking across the floor, they found Sonic laying in the bed, his head slightly turned away from them and his left arm resting on his chest above the blanket. They could hear the sound of him breathing regularly, meaning he was fine.

Tails came up first. "Sonic?" he whispered softly. Sonic turned his head over to the young fox and smiled, saying, "Tails. You okay, buddy?" Tails nodded softly, saying, "Y-yeah. I was so worried about you, Sonic. I-I was starting to..." Tails was cut off when Sonic managed to pull the fox into a hug, comforting him. He then noticed Chris and Amy looking at him and motioned for them to come over as well. They did, both of them voicing how glad they were to see Sonic was well, Amy even kissing Sonic, causing him to blush. They continued to talk for a little while before being told that everyone else wanted to see Sonic as well.

Eventually, everyone had seen Sonic and exchanged some words with him, glad to have him back. Although Shadow didn't say anything when he had come to see Sonic, both of them knew he didn't have to. The fact that Shadow had been at the hospital all this time and had come to see him told Sonic enough. They didn't need to say anything to express how they felt. After everyone had seen him, they all left so that Sonic could get his sleep.

**Meanwhile, on a highway away from the hospital**

A purple and green race car known as the Speed Demon roared down the highway, having no regard for anyone else using it. Inside the car were two males, one wearing an S-Team uniform, while the other was the doctor from earlier, though it turns out he had been wearing a mask while he was in the hospital, having removed it when he left.

"I still say this plan of you is pretty risky, doc. And I don't see why the Organizer agreed to your plan to allow Sonic to live. I figured he'd want him dead the instant he found out," the man driving said. "Patience, Hector. He may have lived through this, but he won't live through what I've got in store for him. If everything worked out as planned, then those samples they removed from him should be on their way to the SRL station. And if my hypothesis is right, then Sonic will only be alive long enough for my research on the X to be complete," the other man said.

* * *

Music:

Backyard Cookout- Soleanna Castle Town (Sonic the Hedgehog (2006))

Moving Sonic- Emergency (Trauma Center: Second Opinion)

In the Lobby- Despair (Trauma Center: Second Opinion)

No Hope for Sonic?- Code Blue ~DS Version~ (Trauma Center: Second Opinion)

He Lives!- Hyrule Fields (The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures)

The Plot Continues- Palace of Winds (The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures)


	5. SONICX's New Plot

It's been several days since Sonic was brought back to Earth and had the X parasites within him destroyed. Currently, he's still recovering in the hospital, something he hasn't been thrilled about since Dr. Eggman could start attacking again anytime. Still, he's been dealing with it rather well, and Eggman has been quiet the last few days, likely because he's planning to unleash a new mean machine soon. Sonic's friends have been visiting him regularly to see how he's been doing, and it seems that he'll be out soon, thanks to all of the power rings he's used over the years.

It seemed like today was going to be another normal day for everyone, but it was not destined to be. In the skies of Earth, a small spaceship appears, flying over the ocean as it enters the atmosphere. After flying for a while, the ship is within sight of its destination: Prison Island. Ever since Dr. Eggman's raid during the ARK incident, the island hasn't been restored to how it was before, the burnt ground and damaged walkway jutting out from the island itself evidence of this. The ship flies low above the walkway as a hidden set of doors opens in part of the ground, an elevator rising up from inside. The ship lands on the elevator, which takes it down as the hidden doors shut again, blending in with the burnt ground.

From the room where the ship has been sent, the doctor from before exits, followed by a man clad in a grayish-green commander suit. "Doctor, I fail to see how that couldn't have been Sonic on the surveillance tapes! How can you say that after watching those videos?!" he shouted at the doctor. "Calm yourself, Commander Passer. I did not expect that incident to occur either, but that's why we take precautions during our undercover work. And if Sonic was back on his feet, I think the Organizer would've contacted us," the doctor replied. "Oh really? Then I guess we'll find out now!" Commander Passer said.

Walking down a stone passageway, the two arrived in the meeting area, a circular room with the exit being the passageway the two just entered from. On the opposite side of the door was a desk, seated behind which were four other people. Turning to the one on his left, the doctor asked, "Warden Watcher, is Sonic still in the hospital?" Watcher looked at him and said, "Hey, this is Howard Watcher you're looking at, Dr. Kai Narasu! Sonic may have been the only prisoner who escaped under my watch, but I won't let him slip by me again! And yes, he is still in the hospital, though his doctor said he may be out by tomorrow." Turning to look at Commander Passer, Dr. Kai smirked, and was answered with an angry glare from the commander.

After the two took their seats behind the desk, Commander Passer set his right leg on it and asked, "Moving on, I made sure to initiate the program to cut off communications between G.U.N. HQ and the SRL station after all heck broke loose, just like the Organizer ordered me to do in case something like this were to happen. What's the next stage of this plan of yours, Dr. Kai?" The doctor replied, "The plan needs to be reworked a bit. Since I couldn't get my research on those samples done, it's going to require something a little more unorthodox." Jerome Wise, one of the other members and former top aide to the president, asked, "But how are you going to observe the X if you can't get in the station without being torn apart by whatever's in there?" Dr. Kai replied, "Since I can't get back in there, that's the part that needs to be reworked. In addition, I got a look at Sonic's cellular structure, and it indicates that the vaccine I provided for him has had some unexpected side effects."

Hector Dragg, who had been driving the Speed Demon when they had left the hospital, asked, "What are you saying, doc? That he's somehow adapted these Mochtroids into his body in some way?" Dr. Kai angrily answered, "They're called Metroids, Hector. And yes, it seems he has adapted some of their characteristics into him as a result." Li Yan, who hadn't said anything until now, suggested, "If that is the case, then why not send him to the station? The vaccine allowed him to live, so perhaps he can no longer be infected by them." Dr. Kai perked up at this, "That's true. He may be able to resist them from now on. But it'll take at least a day for him to get out of the hospital, and my other research could be uncovered and destroyed by then!" Howard Watcher said, "Maybe not. Remember that prototype suit we snuck out of G.U.N. HQ's laboratory a while back? Maybe you can do something with that." Dr. Kai perked up again, "An excellent idea! I'm glad I thought of it!" He headed down the hall to his lab, calling, "If the Organizer calls, tell him to contact me about the new details of our plan!"

**Later, at G.U.N. HQ**

Shadow strolled out of the Laboratory section of the HQ, having been called in to test out the new Fire Ring that was in development. The test was successful, as the ring was able to create a fire barrier that could break through steel as long as the user could make it surround their body. Shadow found that he was able to do that by rolling, and the flames broke through the steel containers he was practicing on. With that done, Shadow didn't have anything to do, so he decided to go back to the top of Guardian Mountain for a little while.

As he passed through the Gym, Omega walked in the middle of his path. Although he was sure he knew why, Shadow asked, "What is it, Omega?" The hulking robot replied, "I AM BORED FIGHTING WITH HOLOGRAMS. I MUST HAVE A REAL CHALLENGE. SPAR WITH ME." Shadow agreed, so they moved over to the sparring ring.

After a little while of the two fighting in hand-to-hand combat, an officer walked up to the two when they were getting ready to lunge at each other again. Although Shadow did not recognize him, he saw that he was a lieutenant colonel, indicated by the silver oak leaf on his uniform's collar. He spoke, "Agent Shadow, the commander has an urgent mission for you." Shadow said, "If he had a mission for me, he would've contacted me on my communicator." The lieutenant replied, "Normally, he would, but he's not available right now, so he asked me to deliver this to you personally. You may be intrigued." Shadow closed his eyes and sighed, "What is it?" He answered, "We have reason to believe we've stumbled upon a Black Arms base."

Shadow opened his eyes and asked, "And what reason do you have to support something such as that?" The lieutenant colonel replied, "We've found symbols like those that were in the Black Comet, and surveillance reports indicate that Black Arm aliens can be seen going there from time to time. It's definitely worth investigating." Shadow nodded, "Very well then. What do I do when I arrive?" He replied, "Actually, we're assigning the entirety of Team Dark to this mission. Since this is just a small base, you'll be investigating to see if you can find out where the Black Arms' home planet is and deal with the ones on the planet however you wish." Omega looked giddy to hear this. Shadow agreed to the conditions and accepted the mission after a moment of thought.

At this point, Rouge walked into the room and noticed Shadow talking to a lieutenant colonel, so she came over and asked, "Hey Shadow. What's going on?" He turned to her and said, "Commander Tower has assigned Team Dark a mission. We're investigating a possible Black Arms base." Rouge raised an eyebrow, "Really? Because I happened to see-" Suddenly, the lieutenant interrupted her, "If you don't mind, the ship will be leaving soon. I suggest you get to the Hanger." Although Shadow was beginning to get suspicious, he decided to play along and find out what was going on. So he told Rouge he'd tell her about the mission on their way, whispering that they'd be careful upon arrival.

As the three headed to the Hanger, the lieutenant smirked to himself, "Well, that's Shadow and those other two out of the way. Now, if Dr. Kai is done, it's his and Commander Passer's turn."

**Meanwhile, at the hospital**

Sonic was awake in his bed, trying to choke down the lunch that he'd been given by the hospital staff. "Ugh, I've eaten airline food that tastes better than some of this stuff..." he muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, the door opened and a man wearing a G.U.N. officer uniform stepped in. "Who are you?" Sonic asked. "Never mind about that. We have a situation, and we need you, Sonic the Hedgehog. Only you can help us right now." the officer explained. Sonic replied, "Much as I'd like to, bud, I can't leave this hospital bed yet. Why not ask Shadow? Surely he can do as good a job as me, if not better." The officer shook his head, "I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment. He, along with the rest of Team Dark, has just been sent out to explore a base that seems to be owned by the Black Arms. We have no other agents available, so you're the only one we can turn to."

Sonic sighed, "Didn't you hear the first sentence? I can't leave this bed yet because the doctor said my central nervous system hasn't healed yet." The officer gritted his teeth for a fraction of a second, then returned to his normal composure and said, "I'm well aware of your condition. But rest assured, the military is prepared for a matter such as this." He raised an arm and Dr. Kai, wearing his mask, walked in with a stretcher. "We're just going to shift you to this stretcher so I can take you and show you what I mean." the officer finished. He then moved Sonic, as gently as he could force himself to, from the bed onto the stretcher. They then moved him out of the room.

Along the way, some of the doctors and nurses gave them questioning looks and sentences, though the two reassured them that they were only going to show Sonic something. Finally, they arrived at a small storeroom, pushing Sonic's stretcher inside. "Sit up and take a look, Sonic," Dr. Kai said. Sonic did so and looked straight ahead. Sitting in a tube in the back was what appeared to be a robot Sonic, though it looked a lot less cold and robotic than an actual Sonic robot might look, instead looking more like some kind of suit.

Sonic said, "Hey, that looks like that robot Eggman had when that other Shadow temporarily came here." Both of them looked surprised to hear that there were actually two Shadows, though it did explain a few things. Dr. Kai then said, "Actually, Sonic, it's a modified version of a special suit that the military has been working on. All those big machines they used to have hooked up to you back in your room? This has all of that built right into it! In addition, it is capable of accurately scanning the environment, and is basically a powered suit of armor. And best of all, it's modular, allowing you to add, as well as download, new abilities and upgrades."

Sonic spoke, "Wait. What kind of abilities and upgrades are we talking about?" The officer leaned over and said, "The downside to this suit is that, in order to allow it to function correctly, it will greatly reduce your super speed. In other words, you won't be able to roll around at the speed of sound in this suit, though there may be an upgrade for that." Sonic stared back at him, "Are you kidding me?! How do you expect me to Spin Dash if my mobility is being restricted?!" Dr. Kai answered, "That's why it's modular; so you can make it stronger as you go. Right now, all it has is a blaster, which is mounted on the right arm." He pointed to the arm, showing the part connected to the hand where the blaster could come out. He then continued, "But the military will be able to send you support data to make it stronger. So what do you think? Will you don this suit and accept this mission?"

Sonic crossed his arms and looked at the suit over his right shoulder. He wasn't exactly fond of not being able to speed around, but if the military was asking him for help, it had to be serious, like the time the president came to ask him to investigate a sunken pirate ship. The officer interrupted his thoughts, "We need an answer now, Sonic. This is very serious." Sonic gave him an annoyed glance, then said, "Alright, I'll do it. Suit me up."

At this, Dr. Kai pressed a button on a panel next to the tube, which opened it. He then carried the suit over to Sonic's stretcher and pulled out some wires on the back, which he attached to Sonic's head. "Hey, what are ya doin'?" Sonic asked. "In order for you to wear this suit, I need to measure your mental energy. This will allow you to make it materialize or dematerialize." Dr. Kai answered. Sonic asked, "Meaning?" Dr. Kai replied, "You won't be able to do it now, since I've placed a lock on it that won't deactivate until after you've recovered completely, but in short, if you concentrate as hard as you can, you can make it appear or disappear as you wish. It's somewhat alien in design, but surely you'll be able to handle it."

After several moments of scanning, Dr. Kai removed the wires from Sonic and reattached them back inside the suit. He then said, "Now concentrate on wearing the suit. Concentrate as hard as you can." Sonic shut his eyes and attempted to do what he was told. Unbeknownst to him, a light began to shine on the suit, eventually making it disappear and reappear on Sonic. Sonic opened his eyes, surprised to see he was looking out of a visor! "Excellent! It works perfectly!" Dr. Kai exclaimed.

**A little later...**

After Sonic got used to the suit somewhat, he was led out of the hospital, where a ship was waiting. It was blue with a green cockpit window, and it was built in the likeness of Sonic's head! Dr. Kai explained, "This ship has a computer built into it, which will act as your on-site CO. The onboard systems can also recharge your suit and refill any ammo you add to it." Sonic said, "Thanks, doctor... Uh..." Dr. Kai fidgeted, "Er, don't worry about that. Just worry about the mission."

Sonic asked, "What is this mission anyway?" The officer answered, "A few hours ago, there was an explosion and an attack aboard the SRL station. However, we have no idea what became of everyone who was aboard the station at the time, or who the attacker was. So for the moment, you need to investigate the station and determine what has happened. The computer will then determine what your next course of action should be." Sonic nodded, "Okay, I get that." The officer replied, "Then climb aboard and the computer will take you there."

Before Sonic could go through the door on the side, they all heard a car coming up behind them. Turning around, they saw it was a Formula-One racecar. The glass covering opened up, and Sam Speed stepped out. "Hey, what's going on over here?" he asked. Sonic called, "Hey, Sam! How's it going?" Sam looked at the suit-clad hedgehog a moment, then asked, "Sonic, is that you?" Sonic nodded as he began to walk over. Dr. Kai said, "Sonic, what are you doing? You have a mission to do!" Sonic looked back and said, "Relax, I know. I just want to exchange a few words with Sam. Or is that a problem?" They both frantically said that it wasn't, then left to give them some time alone.

Sonic walked up to Sam, who was standing next to his car. Sam spoke first, "That's a new look for you, Sonic. What happened?" Sonic shrugged, "We're both thrill seekers. And you know us: hard to find a dull moment." Sam nodded, understanding completely. Glancing at his car, Sonic said, "Say, Sam, your car looks a little different since I saw it last time. Did you get a new engine or something?" Sam replied, "Of course! I gotta do something if I'm gonna show you up any time soon! Want a closer look?" Sonic replied, "Sure, show me the interior up close." While he said this, he slightly jerked his head to the right, as if to indicate he was winking, since the black visor made it hard to see Sonic's eyes. Still, Sam caught the hint, so he and Sonic walked over to the car's cockpit.

Over in the bushes, Dr. Kai and the officer were crouched down, observing what Sonic and Sam were doing. They were sure that Sonic wasn't just chatting with Sam, so they were keeping an eye on them, listening in on their conversation.

While Sonic asked about the interior of the car and Sam explained it to him, they were secretly whispering to each other as well, in case they were being watched. "It's not this mission I'm being sent on that's got me worried, Sam. I can't shake the feeling that there's a conspiracy afoot," he whispered before audibly asking about a switch. Sam told him what it was and sort of explained it to him before whispering back, "You think so? What are you going to do?" Sonic whispered, "I'm going to go along with it. The SRL station had a lot of creatures from SR388 aboard. Someone could be out to get them or something. But you can really help me out!" He then spoke aloud, "Hey, what's that lever right there do?" Leaning over to get a good look at it, Sam said, "That lever activates the nitro tank." He then whispered, "What do you want me to do?" Sonic whispered back, "Let Tails and the others know about this. Tell them about this sudden mission I'm being sent on, and that Shadow is away investigating the Black Arms. Tell them to do a little research on these matters, okay?"

Suddenly, Dr. Kai and the officer came over while they were looking at the car, acting as if they had just come out of the hospital, and the officer said, "Sonic, this is urgent! You need to get going now!" Sonic looked up at him and said, "Alright, I know! I had my interest satisfied anyway!" He then headed back over to the ship, calling to Sam, "See you around, Sam! Hope we get to race again soon!" Sam called back, "Sure thing, Sonic! I'd like to stay and chat, but I've got an errand or two to run!" They then thumb-upped each other before Sam got in his car and drove away.

Sonic, meanwhile, stepped through the door on the side of the ship. It was adequately sized inside and seemed to be well-built. Walking over to the seat at the control panel, he sat down and the ship sprang to life. After determining that it was Sonic, the ship's computer automatically took control and soon was flying off towards the SRL station.

As Dr. Kai and the officer watched it go, the doctor asked, "Should we be concerned about that little conversation Sonic was having, Commander Passer?" Passer replied, "Nah, didn't you hear them? They were talking about that car. Sonic's not suspicious. By the way, you got the camera inside the helmet in a way that Sonic won't know it's there, right?" Dr. Kai nodded, "Yes, and that computer is controlled entirely by me. I'll be able to do my research and send Sonic upgrades if it will help further my research, but otherwise, he's on his own." Commander Passer replied, "Good, now let's get out of here!" They then walked away from the hospital into a patch of woodland, where they kept a helicopter hidden. Climbing inside, they made their way back to Prison Island.

**On the highway**

Sam's car took off down the highway, headed back towards Station Square. As he drove, he thought, "_Don't worry, Sonic. I'll make sure to let everyone know about this. Good luck on your mission, buddy._"

**A little later, back at Prison Island**

All the members of S.O.N.I.C.X. were seated behind the desk in the meeting area, looking up at a screen that had a silhouette on it. "Report in, Warden Watcher. Has the mission succeeded so far?" the figure on the screen asked. "Absolutely, Mr. Organizer. Shadow is on his way to that planet I claimed was host to a Black Arms base, with those fake photos and tapes as evidence. It's amazing what a little editing can do," Howard Watcher said. "Good. And what about you, Dr. Kai and Commander Passer?" the Organizer asked. "Success as well, Mr. Organizer. Sonic is in the suit, the camera works properly, and my link with the computer aboard his ship is perfect," Dr. Kai said. "Excellent. Sonic is being our puppet without even knowing it. I will be checking in for updates periodically, so keep me informed," the Organizer said before the screen turned off.


	6. Investigations Begin

**Thorndyke Mansion, outside**

After buzzing in with Chuck at the gates, Sam drove his car inside and parked near the stairs leading to the front door. Climbing out, he removed his helmet and left it in his Formula One car as he headed up the steps. As he approached the doors, Mr. Tanaka opened them and greeted him as he stepped inside.

Heading for the living room, Sam saw that Tails, Amy, Cream, her mother, Cheese, Chris, and Chuck were there. "I didn't think you'd be stopping over like this, Sam. What'd you come out here for?" Chuck asked. Amy spoke, "I hope you're not here to ask Sonic for a race. He's not in any condition to be racing right now." Sam held up his hands, saying, "Relax, that's not what I'm here for. After all, I'm still on the job now. But I did come here at Sonic's request. He wanted me to tell you guys something for him."

Chris asked, "What did he say?" Sitting down on an ottoman in the room, Sam said, "It seems like there's something big going on. Let me tell you what happened a little while ago..."

**Meanwhile, in space near SR388's solar system**

The ship Sonic had been given was cruising along at a steady pace. Inside, Sonic was in the pilot's seat, staring out at the expanse of space and seeing some of the planets in the solar system ahead of him. Just a little while ago, he had done a slight check-up on his suit, practicing some small movements and firing a few practice shots with the blaster to make sure he would be used to it when the time came.

As he faced forward, looking into space, his black visor suddenly lit up blue, displaying a grid of the immediate area his ship was in. An electronic voice spoke, "We'll soon be arriving at the SRL biologic station. I must prepare for docking." Sonic's visor then returned to its normal color, Sonic looking through the glass to see the station coming closer.

As he looked at the station, he reflected upon his mission. According to the G.U.N. officer and a scientist, after his surgery, the samples that the trauma team had taken from him had been shipped to the station, accompanying some of the creatures taken from SR388. A while afterwards, an unexplained explosion had shook the station, and reports indicated that an unknown assailant had been sighted afterwards. Although he didn't say anything, something about what he had been told made him worried about this mission.

In addition to the suit he was wearing, they had provided him with his ship, which had an A.I. computer built into it, which would serve as his CO for the mission. He wasn't exactly thrilled at the circumstances of this mission or the fact that it seemed like there was a conspiracy afoot, but he was willing to put up with it so that he could find out what this new fear he was feeling really was. As he thought this, his ship turned and jetted off towards the now close SRL station, heading for the docking ring around the asteroid.

**In the station's hanger**

After the ship had landed inside the hanger, the computer sent Sonic a map of the Main Deck area, showing him all the known rooms on the deck. It then spoke, "Sensors indicate that the explosion originated in the Quarantine Bay. This bay currently stores capsules containing recent samples from SR388 and Zebes, as well as the samples taken from you during your surgery. The cause of the explosion is currently unclear. Investigate. The Quarantine Bay is here." At this, the map Sonic was seeing moved to an area on the left side of the Main Deck, showing a "TARGET" indicator on a room that the map showed as being two squares in length.

The computer continued, "Move quickly and quietly... You are currently unable to use most of your natural abilities, due to the Fusion Suit restricting you at the moment. Don't forget that, Sonic. Stop at the Navigation Room on the way. Uplink from there. Is your objective clear?" Sonic, who had been tapping his fingers during the computer's explanation, replied that it was. The computer said, "Good. Now, go to the Quarantine Bay."

With the computer finally done talking, Sonic stood up from his seat and exited through the door on the side of the ship. Glancing around the hanger, Sonic spotted an open hatch at the opposite end of the room. Clicking a few buttons on his right wrist, he brought the blaster out and ran to the hatch, keeping a sharp eye out as he did.

The trip to the Navigation Room was mostly uneventful, the only real thing being out of the ordinary being that the staircase that connected the hanger and the Main Deck was smashed, forcing Sonic to jump from one broken set of stairs to the next to reach the top. Passing through another hallway, Sonic arrived in the Navigation Room and typed in his ship's frequency, the computer screen going from a wave of green static to the map of the Main Deck. The ship computer spoke, "The Quarantine Bay is ahead. Irregular bio-signs are confirmed. Be on guard." Sonic nodded, then walked through the hatch that opened after the conversation was over.

Stepping out of the room, he saw that the power in that area had been cut, putting a wall of black in front of him. Clicking a button on the side of his helmet, Sonic activated the night-vision, the suit gaining a pair of glowing green eyes that moved wherever Sonic's eyes did. Moving through the next two rooms, he came across the hatch leading to the Quarantine Bay. Pressing against the wall and bringing his blaster arm up, Sonic peeked inside to see if he could see anything. Spotting nothing, he began to slowly and quietly move inside to avoid making noise.

The Quarantine Bay was definitely the beginning of the attack. Broken capsules were just barely hanging from the walls and crates were littered with signs of brute force. Hearing a sound at the other end of the room, Sonic crouched and pressed his back against the container closest to where he had heard the sound. Peering out from behind, he spied a Hornoad standing next to a destroyed crate. It sniffed the air a moment, then began to make its way over to the crate Sonic was behind. Going back behind the crate, Sonic went around, hoping to corner it as it searched for him, yet just as he was behind it, it suddenly turned around and tried to bite him! Leaping back, Sonic jumped over it when it tried to lunge at him and delivered several shots while he was spinning in the air.

As the shots hit it, the Hornoad's appearance seemed to grow fuzzy before fading into an X! Knowing that the suit would not be enough to prevent a second infection, Sonic moved quickly back to the entrance as the X began to float and tried to locate its attacker. Sonic soon returned to the Navigation Room and typed in his ship's frequency. Once they were connected, Sonic said, "We've got trouble! There was a Hornoad in the Quarantine Bay that was infected by an X!" The computer replied, "That's not the only one... All of the specimens brought back by research teams have been infected as well. The X is capable of mimicking its prey perfectly; any specimen could have hosted it. Before the attack, a sensor scanned one..."

A small window appeared, showing the scanned X. The computer continued, "The gelatinous X parasites invade and rapidly reproduce, killing the host creature. They then absorb their victim's DNA and use it to mimic it." Sonic replied, "Well, yeah! I almost got killed by one, so I should know." The computer stopped talking while Sonic was speaking, then said, "Yes, and the Metroid vaccine saved your life. The assumption that was made by the research teams was true; Metroids were indeed the main predators of the X, which is why they began to appear again after the Metroids died off, as well as why the vaccine worked so quickly and so well. But it has also changed your cellular makeup."

Sonic asked, "What does that mean? What did it change?" The computer explained, "From now on, you can never be infected by X again. In fact, it seems you can now absorb any X parasites that don't have a host simply by touching them. You will be able to restore suit energy and some weapons like this, and it's possible that you might be able to discover new abilities this way as well. You should pursue any free X parasites when you can." Sonic chuckled, "Heh heh! Sounds like it's open season on the X, and there's only one hedgehog who can handle them!"

Once again, the computer spoke, "This station is home to many species... Some of them violent. The X must be kept out of the breeding environments at all costs, Sonic. This is vital." Sonic said, "Okay, sure. So what now? Where do I go next?" The computer beeped a moment, then moved the map to a section on the right, saying, "I am detecting massive bio-signs in this region. The X are gathering. This may be our chance to exterminate them, but... You are only at about 10% battle capacity. Your chance of survival against many X is extremely low." Sonic grunted, "Pff, thanks for the vote of confidence, calculator." The computer mentioned something about the United Federation needing Sonic alive, though he paid the computer no attention until it asked if he understood, replying that he did. The computer then said, "Now get going. I have released the lock on Level 0 hatches. Any gray hatch can now be opened by shooting it to dispel the shield around it."

With that, Sonic left the room, turning to the left as he left the room and began to make his way in the direction of the his objective. As he ran, he absorbed an X that was trying to become a Hornoad and blasted a zombie-like creature. Entering another Navigation Room, the computer suddenly alerted him to an update. It spoke, "I have received news from HQ. They have sent you downloadable data for a missile system. This will be useful against enemies that your current beam can't hurt. Go to the Data Room on the Operations Deck for the download. This will bring your chances of survival up to 20%..."

With that, Sonic left the Navigation Room and took the nearby hallway leading to the elevator to the Operations Deck. Standing atop the glowing platform, he crossed his arms and tapped his foot as the elevator began to climb up the dark shaft.

**Back at the Thorndyke Mansion**

After Sam had finished explaining what had happened at the hospital, the room was silent, everyone letting the information they'd been given sink in. Sam stood up, saying, "I've got to get back to work, but I'll stop by the Chaotix Detective Agency and let them know about this too. Maybe they can help you guys find out more." And with that, he left the mansion and climbed into his car, driving off towards the port area where the detective agency was located.

Chris asked, "What should we do now? We don't even know how to contact Sonic." Chuck turned to him and said, "I think the best thing we can do right now is see if we can find out from the military if they did send Sonic and Shadow on the missions that Sam said they were on. If not, then it's possible there might be a conspiracy afoot." Tails stood up and said, "I'll go get the X-Tornado ready!" He then ran out the door to Chuck's lab, Amy following close behind.

Chris asked, "We're going to Guardian Mountain?" Chuck replied, "If anyone will know, Shadow's CO, Commander Tower, will. But you should stay here, Chris. They might not..." Chris interrupted, "Grandpa, I can't just sit around and wait. What if Sonic runs into those X things again? If he doesn't have his speed, how can a blaster help him if he gets in trouble?" Chuck relented after a bit of thought, "Alright, you can come. Just be aware that they might not allow you to enter, even if you're with me." Chris nodded, understanding.

As they headed for the door, Cream asked, "What about Knuckles? Should we let him know about this too?" Chuck looked at her and said, "For now, let's not get Knuckles involved. He's still got to worry about protecting the Master Emerald since Dr. Eggman could strike again at any time." He and Chris then went out to join Amy and Tails in the X-Tornado. As they left, Cream, Vanilla, and Cheese looked at each other worriedly, hoping Sonic and Team Dark were okay.

**Meanwhile, in the Tetra Galaxy, the Alimbic Cluster**

The spaceship carrying Shadow, Rouge, and Omega was finally arriving at its destination. A good thing too, as Shadow was beginning to get sick of Rouge's teasing and Omega was about ready to blow the ship to pieces because he so badly wanted to destroy something. Their destination was a world that was covered with fissures and cracks, all of them full of lava and heat that went all the way to the planet's core.

The pilot announced, "We're arriving at Planet Alinos. It used to be a lush green world, but no one knows how its core exploded or how it became the way it is today. Since it's outside of the United Federation's space domain, it would surely be a good place for the Black Arms to find refuge." He then stopped talking to resume piloting, part of him seeming to be flickering...

* * *

I know that there's not much action here, but it'll start to pick up next chapter. Hopefully.

I mentioned Planet Zebes because, technically, there's no reason for it to be destroyed here. Just so you all know.

See you later.


	7. Code Red Dangers

**Prison Island, Dr. Kai Narasu's workroom**

Dr. Kai was hunched over his computer, which displayed the steadily rising elevator shaft Sonic was currently in. His computer was able to receive the data that the suit's camera collected, as well as give him a Sonic's eye view of the station. He also had an open notebook next to the keyboard, which he was frantically scribbling notes down in.

Suddenly, the ruined metal doors burst open and Howard Watcher walked in saying, "Hey Dr. Narasu, what's the idea, huh? How come you're the only one who's getting a feed on what Sonic is doing while the rest of us just sit around twiddling our thumbs?" Dr. Kai, who had been startled by the sudden intrusion, removed his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief as he said, "Calm yourself, Warden Watcher. I told you that the main feed to the meeting room will be up shortly. And right now, I need to do my research on what Sonic has seen so far from this invasion." Howard asked, "So the X have really gotten loose, eh? It would be great to harness them personally, but what makes you think Sonic won't just destroy them all in the end?"

Before Dr. Kai could say anything, Hector Dragg poked his head in and said, "Hey! I hate to break up the honky convention, but you're needed right now, Watcher! Dr. Kai, you make sure to get that feed up soon! We want to see every hit Sonic takes too, you know!" He then left, followed by Howard Watcher, while Dr. Kai huffed and turned back to his computer to finish what he was doing.

Back in the meeting room, Hector Dragg and Howard Watcher took their seats with the other members and looked up at the screen, which displayed the X-Tornado flying over the ocean. Commander Passer turned to Howard and said, "It seems that Sonic's sickening bunch of furry friends are on their way to Guardian Mountain. You have any ideas on how to deal with them?" Watcher grinned, "Security countermeasures are my game, Commander! And what could shoot them out of the sky better than G.U.N. HQ's own security system?"

Jerome Wise asked, "Are you talking about O.T.I.S., the Outer Threat Immobilization System?" Howard nodded, "You've got it, Jerome! I placed a special bug in the system that hasn't been released yet that will make it include Sonic's friends in the list of targets!" He then pulled out a Nunchuk-styled button and pressed it, causing it to emit a signal that headed for Guardian Mountain. Howard chuckled, "They won't even catch sight of Guardian Mountain by the time O.T.I.S. switches from defensive to offensive!"

**Over the ocean, a fair distance from G.U.N. HQ**

The X-Tornado cut across the sky, powered by the purple and yellow Chaos Emeralds. Thanks to their power being directed to the engines, it wouldn't be long before they arrived at Guardian Mountain, as they were beginning to enter the base's security area. Chuck's voice came in over the communicator, saying, "Be ready, Tails. Now that we're entering their security grid, the military is bound to contact us soon to find out what we're doing." Tails replied, "Got it, Chuck! Just leave it to me!"

All of a sudden, the screens in front of Tails began to flash warnings! A mechanical voice spoke, "Attention intruders. You are currently within unauthorized airspace. Turn back immediately." Chris asked, "What does it mean by intruders? Don't they recognize the X-Tornado?" Chuck said, "There must be a glitch in the system. I've heard that this only happens when an enemy registered in the military database flies into this space. And last time I checked, none of us were in there." Amy stood up in her seat and looked over at Tails saying, "Don't listen to that thing, Tails! We've got to get to Guardian Mountain now! Step on it!" Tails replied, "Uh, sure thing, Amy." He then announced, "I'm going to try to increase our speed to get there sooner! Hold on tight, everyone!" He pushed the joysticks forward and the X-Tornado shot forward like a rocket.

After only a few seconds of this, a new alert appeared on the Tails' panel, warning him of incoming fire! Turrets that were hidden underwater had surfaced and were firing shots at them, while missiles were being launched from Guardian Mountain. Chris cried, "Look out, Tails!" Tails gripped the controls tightly, focusing, and said, "Relax, Chris. We're gonna be fine." He then pressed onward into the barrage aimed for them.

**Angel Island, Shrine Isle**

Knuckles stood in front of the Master Emerald with his arms crossed, keeping an eye out for trouble. Having heard from his friends about Eggman's original plan to take the Master Emerald when he was at the get-together a couple days ago, he was a bit more alert than usual, figuring Eggman would be back to get it soon.

His eyes suddenly took notice of the explosions in the distance, just far away enough for him to see it without needing to strain his eyes. "Looks like Sonic's friends are in another skirmish. Guess Eggman was ready to attack again after all." He was about to turn his back to the conflict, seeing that it didn't directly endanger Angel Island or the Master Emerald, but then thought to himself, "_My people were destroyed by Chaos' anger because of their greed for power… Must more suffer because of people repeating the same mistakes over again…?_"

After taking a moment to decide, Knuckles dashed to the edge of Shrine Isle and leapt into the air, gliding towards the conflict saying, "I know my duty and my priorities. And I know I'm through waiting for trouble to come to me. This time, I'm taking the fight to the enemy now!"

**Meanwhile, on Planet Alinos**

The heat coming from the core of Alinos was too much for the transport ship, so Shadow, Rouge, and Omega were dropped off from the air, Shadow using his air shoes to slow his fall, while Rouge glided down and Omega used his jet booster. Seeing that they were going to land safely, the ship's pilot flew away, reminding them of their objective and saying that he would be back to pick them up once they were done.

Landing on the barren surface of the planet, Team Dark found several lava pits littering the landscape. Rouge commented, "Well, this sure seems like a hotspot, doesn't it, boys?" Shadow answered, "Hmph. Just another ruined landscape. Nothing more." Turning to Omega, he asked, "Omega, are your scanners picking up any signs of the Black Arms?" The walking arsenal replied, "NO. I AM NOT RECEIVING ANY INFORMATION ON THEM. THE COWARDS ARE LIKELY TAKING SHELTER UNDERGROUND." Shadow replied, "Very well, then. Let's see what we can find."

Suddenly, creatures appeared from the lava pits! Team Dark got into a triangular fighting formation at this, enabling them to watch out on all sides. Rouge spoke, "We haven't even been here five minutes, and already the locals are angered." Omega spoke, "SCANNING… CREATURES RECOGNIZED AS FIRE SPAWN. AIM FOR THE MOUTH TO UTTERLY DESTROY THEM." Shadow grunted, "Okay, Team Dark. Go for the mouth and take them out!"

**Aboard the SRL station, Operations Deck**

Arriving at the Operations Deck, Sonic turned and shot his blaster at the door to get it to open. Stepping through it, he saw a door across from him with two more and a walkway above it, a ramp allowing for easy access between the three. Checking his map, Sonic ran as fast as his suit would allow him up the ramp. He passed by the Navigation Room and into the Data Room. Going over to the machine in the middle of it, he stood on the raised platform and allowed the machine to hook up to his suit. A slight glow then covered his suit as it downloaded the data, the missile launcher appearing on the suit's left arm. From the looks of it, it could be brought out of his wrist just like the blaster.

Going back to the Navigation Room, he heard a slight "whirr" sound, and the room seemed to get darker. "_Great, now what?_" he thought as he connected to his ship's computer. The screen turned blue and the computer said, "Electrical interference has knocked out the elevators on the Main Deck. This may be related to the X. I'll look into it. As for you, try to find an alternate way to the target. It's located here." The screen then showed him where the "TARGET" was located. The computer then continued, "I am reading massive bio-signs, so I hope your missile launcher works… To reload missiles, you can use a Recharge Room or possibly absorb a special type of X parasite. Try it out. Is your objective clear?" Sonic sighed, "Yes. I've been paying attention." The computer replied, "Missiles are your only hope at this point. Don't hesitate to use them. Now find a way to the target." The link was then cut, the screen going back to green static.

Walking outside of the Navigation Room, Sonic looked around the Operations Deck, looking for a weak section of wall. Noticing the walkway extended to the opposite wall, he walked down it and found that the wall had a covering on it. Raising his left arm, he brought out the missile launcher and test-fired one at the covering. The missile shot out and hit the target, breaking it into several pieces. Looking at where it had been, Sonic found a maintenance corridor. "Sweet! Gotta love these hidden passageways," Sonic murmured to himself as he walked inside and followed it.

As he hoped, the corridor led him into the inner workings of part of the station, allowing him to bypass a broken set of cables that blocked the direct way. Along the way, he saw a few zombies, but nothing too severe until he was at the door that led to the target, which was covered by a large eye. Scanning it, he found that it occasionally fired bursts of energy, but was vulnerable when its real eye opened. Dodging the shots, he shot three missiles at it and destroyed it, capturing the red X afterwards, which refilled him completely.

Going inside, Sonic saw a shaft beneath him and jumped down it, as the target was located beneath him. Landing, he looked up to see a large X surrounded by a membrane and some smaller X. It slowly drifted to the ground, then suddenly took on the form of a creature with an armored back! As soon as it appeared, it roared at Sonic and slashed at the air, sending two blue waves flying towards him. Sonic jumped and grabbed a nearby ledge, avoiding the attack. He muttered, "That attack brings up bad memories of Slicer from Eggman's Metropolis Zone…" Using his right arm to hang onto the ledge, he brought out his missile launcher and hit the X with several missiles, the creature screaming in pain. It curled up into a ball when it was done and went rolling towards the wall to try to knock Sonic off, but Sonic leapt over it before it hit. Landing, he turned to face the X and said, "You're pretty good if you can curl up like that, but you're going to have to do better if you want to beat me!"

The battle continued, Sonic shooting blaster shots and missiles at the X while it tried to burn him by shooting fireballs across the floor. Despite its resistance, it didn't take long for the X to melt back into its original shape. Its protective membrane kept Sonic from absorbing it, however, and the blaster only caused smaller X to break off from it. Switching to missiles, Sonic broke the outer membrane, leaving the X defenseless. Jumping up, he absorbed it before it could get away.

Landing, Sonic received a message from his suit that said he had received a new ability called the Morph Ball. Intrigued by the name, Sonic accessed the file on it and found his suit could curl up into a ball, allowing it to fit through narrow spaces. Closing the file, Sonic noticed that the only way out was through a small hole, giving him a perfect chance to test it out. Running towards it, he initiated the Morph Ball program and, somehow, his suit compressed into a ball shape without hurting him. He then unfolded back to normal when he got to the other side, taking a moment to make sure nothing was broken after that. He then grinned, "Heh, it's no Spin Dash, but it'll work!"

With the aid of the Morph Ball, Sonic made his way back to the known areas of the Main Deck and headed for the Navigation Room. Arriving, he contacted his ship and, leaning on the panel, said, "Well, that's done, pal. What else do you have for me?" The computer replied, "Sonic, it's as I feared. The breeding environments have been invaded by X parasites." Sonic straightened out at this and listened as the computer went on, "Sector 1 (SRX) shows several abnormalities on bio-sensors. Sector 1 is a simulation of the SR388 ecosystem. To get there, take the Main Elevator to the access shaft and use Elevator 1. Is your objective clear?" Sonic replied, "Yep. I'll be there soon!" The computer added, "Use the Navigation Room inside for further briefing. I'm not sure, but I believe that whoever allowed the X into the environment may also be linked to the explosion earlier…"

Once the connection went dead, Sonic headed in the direction of the Quarantine Bay, switching on his night vision due to the power still being out. With some help from the Morph Ball, he made it to the Main Elevator quickly and activated it, heading down into the dark shaft.

No sooner had he disappeared from view then an explosion erupted from the wall next to the elevator. When the dust and debris settled, a figure stepped out of the hole. It walked over to where the elevator had been as a nearby security camera took note of its features. Blue fur, long quills, red sneakers with white straps and gold buckles, and what looked like a mini assault rifle strapped to its back…

Turning around, the figure took note of the camera, looking up at it with eerie eyes that had no irises or pupils. Jumping up towards the camera, it grabbed it and immediately crushed it in the palm of its hand. Landing, it turned towards the door and went into a Spin Dash, smashing through the door as it disappeared into the darkness…


	8. Sabotage

**Station Square, the coastal area**

Sam Speed's Formula One car drove along the streets laid down near the coast after coming off of the highway that led back towards the city. Soon, he spotted what looked like a small house that was behind a wooden deck surrounded in front by a rope fence. Pulling over to the side of the road, he opened the glass covering and raised the visor on his helmet to get a better look at the building. Above the door was a sign that said "Detective Office," while an "OPEN" sign was hanging from the circular window in the door.

Having found what he was looking for, Sam removed his helmet and stepped out of the car. As he walked up to the door, he said to himself, "Normally, I wouldn't disturb these guys, seeing as they are the only detective agency around. But I have a feeling that if Sonic's friends are going to find out if there really is something going on, they're going to need all the help they can get. I just hope they're not on a job already." Walking up the white wooden steps, he knocked on the door three times and waited.

After a moment, the door lazily opened and Sam saw Charmy Bee, whose eyes were half-closed. Seeing Sam, Charmy yawned, "Sorry, mister, but Vector says we're not here right now. And it's not because it's nap time." Sam sweat dropped while Charmy just looked back at him blankly, Sam eventually saying, "Look, I'm a friend of Sonic. Can I come in for just a minute?" Charmy yawned as he buzzed to the side, Sam assuming that this meant yes.

Stepping inside, Sam saw Espio with his legs crossed in a yoga position on the floor while Vector was asleep at his desk, snoring and leaving a trail of drool. He spoke, "Hey!" At this, Espio's eyes shot open and he said, "*Snrk!* I was meditating!" Vector, meanwhile, woke up frantically and cried, "Waugh! I already mailed the check this morning!" Seeing this, Sam said, "Sorry for the wake-up call." Vector calmed down a bit at this stood up, saying, "Ah, Sam! I never thought you'd show up here, being a part of the police and all." Sam replied, "Yeah, that's true. Which is also the reason I came here." Espio asked, "What do you mean?"

Sam answered, "I've got to keep an eye on what's going on in the city, which doesn't give me a lot of time to do a lot of investigating on my own unless I'm assigned to do so. So I was wondering if you three would like a case to work on." Charmy began flying around the office shouting, "A case! A case! We're getting a new case!" Vector asked, "So what kind of case are we talking about here?" Sam answered, "From the look of things, it's shaping up to be a conspiracy case. Sonic has been sent on a government mission to investigate one of their research labs that has been attacked by something while Shadow was sent to investigate possible signs of the Black Arms. But Sonic suspects that there may be a conspiracy afoot, which is where you can help. I've already told Tails and the others about this and they're headed to Guardian Mountain to investigate. Help them out with this investigation and I'll be sure to pay you well for your services."

Vector spoke, "You've got a deal, Sam! With the Chaotix on the job, the truth will be out in no time!" Sam nodded, "Good to hear. I think the best place to start is with the others at Guardian Mountain. I know of a secret underground transit system that the officers sometimes use to get to various parts of the world. One of my old buddies from the Police Academy works for the military and he happens to be a security officer for the transit system, so I think I can pull a few strings and get you guys a ride." Vector said, "Great! Do you mind showing us where it is?" Sam replied, "Sure. As long as you don't mind riding on the back of a car without seatbelts."

With that, they all went over to Sam's car, Sam climbing in the driver's seat while the Chaotix got on the back of it. Once they were secured, Sam drove away, going a little slower than he normally did so that they wouldn't fall off but still driving at a fast speed, suspecting that time was going to be of the essence.

As they headed towards the heart of Station Square, they passed a purple feline that was sitting near the edge of the water and fishing, his frog friend sitting next to him. After Sam and the Chaotix passed him, Big said, "There aren't many fish, but it sure is nice today, isn't it, Froggy?" His frog companion hopped up and down as it said, "Ribbit! Ribbit!"

**SRL Station, elevator shaft to the access shaft**

Sonic's uneventful ride down the elevator shaft was suddenly disturbed by a short vibration that originated above him. Having been rocked a bit, he glanced up the shaft, but couldn't see anything due to how dark it was. When the elevator reached the access shaft a minute later, it immediately stopped glowing as it gave off a slight whine, Sonic remarking, "Great." He then ran to his right, where a glowing 1 on the wall indicated the entrance to Sector 1 (SRX), getting on another elevator and riding it down.

Arriving at the Navigation Room, Sonic contacted his ship's computer, which downloaded a map of the known areas of the sector to him. It then spoke, "The Main Elevator in the access shaft has been severely damaged. It will be totally unusable for some time, unfortunately. Some unknown agent is at work. Something very powerful... Certainly not human." Sonic said, "No, really? I thought we already established that we're not looking at anything human here."

Ignoring Sonic's remark, the computer continued, "I'll report when I know more. Now, listen closely." Sonic leaned over to listen as the ship spoke, "The X in Sector 1 have invaded the atmospheric stabilizers. They must want to alter the environment to suit their needs. They are already reproducing. Clear all 5 atmospheric stabilizers to stop them." Sonic replied, "Alright, I can do that. So let's go already!" At that, the locked hatch to the side of him opened, allowing Sonic to access Sector 1.

Passing through a Computer Room and a Recharge Room, Sonic stopped to refill his missiles and make sure his suit's shields were still strong. He then passed through two more rooms, the first being an average-sized room that had a few zombies in it, as well as a pair of locked hatches, one blue and the other green, in addition to an unlocked Level 0 hatch. The second was a hallway filled with blue blobs that were green on the inside and could get bigger as X joined them. They tried to sap his energy, but he quickly took care of them and broke the barrier at the end of the hall. His suit's systems indicated that one of the stabilizers was in the next room.

Walking through the hatch, the room Sonic entered definitely simulated the surface of SR388, save for the strange clouds floating around and a red, blaring alarm in the distance. Working his way around some rocks, Sonic found the atmospheric stabilizer, which was covered by a green, gelatinous kind of X. Three missiles were enough to break it down into a smaller green X, which Sonic quickly absorbed to pick up a few missiles. The alarm stopped blaring as the strange clouds disappeared, the area returning to normal. Sonic chuckled, "Heh heh, sweet! At this rate, I'll be done in no time!" He then moved on through the unlocked hatch to reach the next stabilizer.

After fixing the second stabilizer and passing through a natural hallway, Sonic was in for another shock. As he descended a shaft, two X suddenly took on the form of a Black Warrior! Although he was able to watch out for its attacks and defeat it with a missile, Sonic muttered, "Who the heck was storing Black Arms DNA here...? If they were trying to research that, I'm going to be having a long talk with someone after this; who knows what that stuff could do."

After dealing with two more stabilizers, Sonic destroyed another eye that was blocking a hatch and went inside. It had the same feel of the room he had just exited, having a futuristic look to it, but it was bigger and contained several platforms that looked like they could be steps. Going to the far end of the room, he found a statue sitting on the ground holding out a ball, as if it were offering it to him. Wondering what it was, Sonic switched from the Combat Visor to the Scan Visor, his suit collecting information from the statue and searching its databanks. Soon, his logbook came up with an entry, stating, "Chozo Statue - The ancient bird people of Zebes are immortalized in the form of these partially sentient statues. By firing on the balls held by many of these statues, you'll reveal special items."

Glancing at the ball that the statue was holding, Sonic decided to give it a try, so he brought out his blaster and shot the ball, which broke away to reveal a glowing sphere. At that moment, however, the sound of a raspy hiss filled the once-silent room as the statue faded away. It then revealed its true form, a purple Core-X! Immediately, Sonic began to fire missiles at it, but they bounce off harmlessly, not damaging the outer shell at all. Even more surprising was when it opened a red eye, which began to glow and blasted him with a red beam shot, knocking him against a wall.

Falling to his knees, Sonic could feel a few sparks shooting out of his suit due to the impact with the wall. He then glared up at the Core-X that was hovering above him and curled up into a Morph Ball before it fired its next shot, rolling away from it. After rolling a bit, he uncurled and turned to face it, this time waiting for it to open its eye. When it did, he fired a missile into it, causing it to scream in pain as it launched another shot at him. Sonic grinned, "Yeah, that's right. You know you're in trouble now! C'mon, show me that pretty eye of yours again!"

The battle continued, Sonic jumping and rolling out of the Core-X's path and shooting missiles into its eye every time it opened and dodging the counter shot it did. After three more missiles delivered to the eye, the outer membrane cracked and released the X within. Quickly absorbing it, Sonic received an upgrade to his beam known as the Charge Beam, which allowed him to charge up a shot that had the strength of a missile and allowed him to do a pseudo-Spin Attack. Before leaving the room to deal with the last stabilizer, Sonic filed a mental note in his head to remember to aim for the eye in the future. With his suit fully recharged, he moved on.

After making use of the Charge Beam to dispose of the X on the last stabilizer, Sonic worked his way around the halls of Sector 1 until he found the Recharge, Computer, and Navigation Rooms. Going to the Navigation Room, he contacted his ship, the computer saying, "Atmospheric stabilizers online. But many X have already made it to other sectors, it seems. In particular... Sector 2 (TRO), the tropical habitat, shows abnormalities. I suspect the X entered this sector with the help of our unseen saboteur. He, she, or it may be in TRO now. Sonic, get over there. We need to put a stop to this. Start moving. I'll brief you at the TRO Navigation Room."

After the screen went back to normal, Sonic went to the elevator one room over and headed for the access shaft. Through the ride, he thought about the briefing he had just been given and debated whether it would be safe to trust the computer or not, since machines typically ended up getting on his bad side.

**Meanwhile, above the ocean on Earth, a ways away from Guardian Mountain**

"Tails, look out!" Chris cried over the communicator, a laser blast headed straight for the X-Tornado. "I see it, Chris!" Tails called back, tilting the plane as the blast went flying past underneath it. "How much farther is it to Guardian Mountain, Tails?! We need to land at some point!" Amy exclaimed. Tails checked the radar and said, "Not much farther now, Amy! It should be coming into view any minute now!"

Almost right after he said this, the mountain that served as G.U.N.'s base of operations after the Black Arms' attack could be seen. As they got closer, a massive robot hand suddenly reached out of the water in front of the land, in an attempt to smack away the X-Tornado! Before it could even take a swing, Knuckles glided onto the scene and smashed it with a single punch! He then turned around and glided onto the front of the X-Tornado, landing right next to the cockpit.

Upon landing, Knuckles yelled, "Tails, what's going on?! Why is the military attacking you?!" Tails shouted back, "I don't know, Knuckles! But I see a good area to land up ahead! You feel like sticking around to find out what the problem is?" Knuckles nodded, hanging on as Tails shifted the X-Tornado into X-Cyclone mode and went to land in a forest a couple miles away from the base of Guardian Mountain.


	9. Unraveling Some Mysteries

**SRL station, access to Sector 2**

After a short run through the access shaft, Sonic arrived at the elevator to Sector 2 and rode it down. When it reached the bottom, Sonic went through the door, entering the Navigation Room and contacting his ship's computer, who uploaded the map of the sector to him. It then spoke, "I have learned the identity of our mystery saboteur…" Sonic said, "Yeah? Well spit it out, then!"

After a moment, the computer said, "Sonic, it's an X mimicking you. I have named it the STH-X." After saying that, an image taken from a security camera appeared on the screen; Sonic was struck speechless as he stared at the figure in the image. It looked exactly like him, except its eyes had no pupils or irises. Even so, it was a complete look-a-alike of him, better than Shadow or Metal Sonic.

The computer continued, "I believe the STH-X came from the capsule containing the samples that were removed from you during your surgery. It used a Light Speed Attack to escape from its holding in the Quarantine Bay. That uncontrolled attack impacted and breached the capsules containing all the X that started this disaster." Sonic growled, "That faker! Where is it now? I'm gonna make it pay for this!"

The computer spoke, in a disapproving tone, "No, you will not. The STH-X is definitely our biggest worry right now. It is mimicking you at almost the same power as when you use the Chaos Emeralds. You can't face it as you are. If you see the STH-X, you must try to escape. Don't even think about fighting…" Sonic growled, "If I see it, it'll be on me in no time! Of all the times to have my speed held back!" The computer added, "That, and you are still very vulnerable to cold, an unexpected side-effect of the Metroid vaccine. Like Metroids, you can be frozen by an Ice Beam. The blaster that the STH-X is armed with happens to be an Ice Beam designed for G.U.N. soldiers. Stay away. If you see it, run."

Sonic sighed as he leaned on the panel, "So what are we doing in this sector anyway? Anything that could help me beat that thing?" The computer replied, "HQ says they have Bomb data ready in the Data Room. Bombs will help you find a way out if you get trapped. The Data Room is here, but… It's sealed by a Level 1 hatch. You'll have to find the Security Room and release the Level 1 locks. But per safety protocols, it's not marked on the map. You'll have to find it on your own, Sonic. So first locate the Security Room and release the locks, then go to the Data Room to get that Bomb data. And keep an eye out for the STH-X." Sonic muttered, "Gee, I would've never thought of that…" He then left the Navigation Room and headed into the sector foyer.

Sonic wound around the foyer to the other side, passing through a door into a stone hallway with some of the red creatures he found in the foyer. Blasting them with a missile or two, he headed through the hatch on the opposite side and climbed a shaft with plants growing around it. Passing through another hatch at the top, he dropped into the Security Room; he planted the palm of his hand on the screen of the computer in the room, the computer accessing his suit and checking the information. After a moment, the screen displayed, "SECURITY LEVEL 1 UNLOCKED. BLUE HATCHES NOW ACTIVE."

Making his way back to the foyer, Sonic followed the map to the location of the Data Room, hopping onto the platform in the machine and letting his suit receive the data. After reading through the enclosed instructions, Sonic left the room to return to the Navigation Room, only to feel a sudden tremor as he heard an explosion! Working his way back to the hatch he'd used earlier, he found the hatch damaged to the point where it wouldn't open and heard the sound of footsteps receding.

Sonic sighed, "Terrific. Guess now we'll see if these bombs are worth getting stuck behind a broken hatch." He shifted into Morph Ball Mode and began to lay bombs across the floor of the room. After a few moments, one of the bombs blew open a hole in part of the floor. Dropping down through it, Sonic saw that it was unmapped territory. He smiled to himself, "Heh, guess I'll get to do a little exterminating while I'm here after all." Shifting back into a ball, he began to explore this new section of Sector 2.

**Meanwhile, at Guardian Mountain**

Technicians and soldiers were running to and fro around the base, attempting to correct the problem in the security mainframe. They had just isolated the cause to be due to a bug that had been dormant in the system and was never picked up by the system's security until now. They had isolated its location, but it was so deep within the system that it would be next to impossible to remove it and repair the damage done in any timely matter.

"I don't care what you have to do! Shut the system down if you have to! The X-Tornado has landed in the forest near the mountain and if something isn't done, our robots will start swarming it any minute!" Commander Tower yelled at one of the technicians. The technician replied, "But sir, in order to begin the repairs, the system must be kept online, and if it's turned off, there's no telling what it will do when it's turned back on!"

A soldier suddenly ran up to the two and, saluting the commander, said, "Sir! We have word from the transit system in Station Square that the Chaotix are requesting to come to Guardian Mountain!" After thinking for a moment, the commander replied, "Give them clearance! Thankfully, the transit system hasn't been affected by O.T.I.S. going out of control, and we may need their help in getting into the system. They did hack Dr. Eggman's databanks and find Professor Gerald's journal during the Black Arms crisis." The soldier nodded and ran back to report to the officer at the Station Square transit station while the commander muttered, "Where is Shadow? I sent for him a short while ago, yet no one's able to find him…"

**Station Square, the underground transit station**

The officer behind the desk spoke to Sam and the Chaotix, "I just got the word from Guardian Mountain. The commander has authorized your clearance, especially since they're in the middle of a crisis right now!" Espio asked, "What's going on?" The officer replied, "Someone managed to hide a bug in the security system and it's making it attack the X-Tornado!" Charmy cried, "Oh no, they're in trouble! What are we gonna do?" Vector spoke, "Just stay calm, Charmy! If they're gonna allow us to get to the mountain, then they know that we can help them!" The officer nodded, "That's probably it. You'd better get aboard, quick!"

As they climbed into the capsule-like transport that quickly arrived on the track, Vector called to Sam, "Thanks for helping us out, Sam! We can take it from here!" Sam called back, "Alright, good luck you guys!" The glass covering on the transport closed, the transport shooting off down the track towards G.U.N.'s base while Sam thanked his friend and headed back to his car, hoping everything that everything would turn out alright.

**Base of Guardian Mountain, a forest clearing**

After switching the X-Tornado to X-Cyclone mode and landing, Tails, Amy, Chris, and Chuck climbed out and jumped to the ground, Knuckles jumping down as well. After landing, he asked, "What was that all about? What, did they decide to eliminate a potential threat before it became one?" Tails said, "I don't think so, Knuckles. Unless the commander decided to let his machines do the talking; something doesn't feel right." Chuck put a hand to his chin, "You may have a point, Tails. The whole time, we heard the voice of a computer. The commander would surely want to say something to us himself if he wanted to shoot us down."

Chris asked, "But Grandpa, does that mean there's a problem with the system? I thought that the security system was protected against outside intrusion." Chuck said, "That's right, Chris. No one but a high-ranking member of the military could get into the system. But that could mean someone managed to infiltrate the ranks enough to get the required access…"

Before they could ponder further, Knuckles called, "Hey guys, maybe we should save this for later! I think we've got company on the way!" Amy called out her hammer and said, "Bring 'em on! I'll show those tin cans that they picked the wrong girl to mess with!" Tails said, "We'll leave the X-Cyclone here! If we try to take it to the base when we're this close, we'll be sitting ducks! If we can get inside and find the computer room, we might be able to stop this!" Chris said, "Let's go, then! We can't waste any time now!" Chuck said, "Wait, Chris! We should stay with the X-Cyclone; we'll be able to provide cover as they make their way up the mountain!" Although reluctant, Chris knew that Chuck was right; it'd be too risky getting close to the battle since they couldn't defend themselves.

With that, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy dashed into the forest, ready to push their way through any resistance they encountered, while Chris and Chuck climbed back inside the X-Cyclone, Chuck powering it up and setting its sights on the mountain slopes while Chris helped him keep an eye out for any approaching threats.

**The Alimbic Cluster, Planet Alinos**

Shadow glanced around the so-called Combat Hall, him and the rest of Team Dark still searching for any trace of the Black Arms. After destroying the Fire Spawn, they headed for the Alinos Gateway, their search of the area they had landed in yielding no results. They had explored several other rooms since then, each with the same results. He was beginning to wonder if there was anything of interest at all on this mostly dead planet. Aside from some native creatures and a few robots called Guardians, they had seen nothing but lava.

Suddenly, from near a door that was opposite the one they had entered through, Omega spoke up, "POSSIBLE WEAPON DETECTED BEYOND THIS DOOR. ALIEN IN ORIGIN. MAY I DESTROY IT?" Rouge fluttered down next to him and said, "Omega, will you relax? At least let us see what it is before you start unloading servos on it." Shadow made his over to the two and said, "Let's go. But be careful."

After passing through a small connecting passage, the team found themselves in a circular room with a round platform in the middle. Rouge activated her scope and began to scan the platform. After a few minutes, Shadow asked, "Rouge, are you getting anything?" She replied, "This platform seems to be connected to the cannon Omega mentioned, but it seems to be sealed somehow. From the looks of this chamber, it must've been constructed by the Alimbics."

Shadow asked, "What does it say about the cannon's power level?" Rouge replied, "It's... Hmm, it's hard to say. There doesn't seem to be anything suggesting that the cannon is used to destroy. Maybe it's used for something else…" Omega spoke up, "A USELESS DEVICE. I WILL DESTROY IT." Shadow said, "No, Omega. Leave it alone. This may be something worth investigating in the future." Omega was about to voice his protest when he received new data. He reported, "I AM DETECTING A CRASH SITE NEARBY. THERE ALSO APPEARS TO BE A PORTAL NEARBY."

Shadow nodded, "Sounds like a possible lead. Lead on, Omega!" With Omega leading them, Team Dark left the room containing the mysterious Alimbic Cannon and began to make their way towards the Crash Site.

**Aboard the SRL Station, in a corner of Sector 2 (TRO)**

Sonic growled as he fired at a large, purple, one-eyed creature, "Argh, what's this thing made of?" The large creature that a Core-X had taken the form of seemed to be resistant to both his blaster shots and missiles. He dashed as he noticed it began to hop around again, not wanting to be crushed under it. As it made its last jump, Sonic noticed this time that it opened its mouth to slow its fall. "It's gotta be weaker on the inside…" Sonic murmured to himself.

As soon as it began to jump again, Sonic readied his missiles and waited for the mouth to open. As soon as it did, Sonic was right under it, firing missiles into it. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to get out of the way in time and it landed on top of him, the creature began to eat away at his energy. "Ah, gross! Let go of me!" Sonic yelled, thrashing around wildly and making the creature a bit sick. When it hopped, Sonic rolled into a Morph Ball and got out from under it. He noticed that it appeared to be shorter, a sign that the mouth was its weak spot.

Sonic continued to fire missiles into its mouth when he got the chance, making sure to leave enough time to get out from under it. Eventually, it reverted to its Core-X form and three missiles were enough to break its outer shell. Absorbing it, he received High Jump Boots, which added a pair of thrusters onto the bottom of the suit's shoes, as well as the ability to jump while curled up in a Morph Ball. Sonic sighed, "That Pogo thing was kind of annoying, especially when it tried to eat me, but these power-ups ought to come in handy." Using the new boots, Sonic leapt up to the nearby high ledges to get back to the entrance of the room.

As he entered the room that had the fake floor above, he got suspicious when he saw the creatures in the room were frozen to the walls and ceiling. Working his way back to a stone hallway, he not only found more frozen but the hatch that led back to the shaft leading up to the familiar areas of Sector 2 destroyed. Laying a few bombs on the ground, he found a hole that took him down to a room he had entered earlier. He landed on the ground…

And froze. Something suddenly began to constrict him inside. Whatever it was, it seemed to be warning him of something dangerous beneath him. Quietly making his way to the end of the platform he was on, he peeked down through a hole he had made earlier. Looking towards the hatch, he saw it. The STH-X was standing in the middle of the room, tapping its foot impatiently as if it were waiting for something.

In his head, Sonic was debating whether to take advantage of the small space and deal with his imposter now or wait. He noticed the beam on the creature's back, shivering a bit as he saw that it was indeed an Ice Beam. He didn't get much time to debate as the creature spoke, in a distorted version of his own voice, "This is boring. I've got better things to do than wait around for that hedgehog. I'll get to him later; I've got more important matters to look into." With that, the STH-X went into a Spin Dash and blasted through the entrance hatch, destroying it. As Sonic ran over to the destroyed hatch, he heard the telltale sound of a blast of supersonic speed. He waited a few minutes, breathing quickly as he anticipated it finding out that he'd been there and coming back. When it didn't, he left the room and took advantage of the frozen creatures to climb up the shaft after it.

Making use of his new abilities, Sonic soon arrived in the sector foyer, the creatures that were in there frozen just like the ones he'd seen earlier. He made a quick stop at the Recharge Room before going to the Navigation Room. Contacting his ship, the computer screen showed the sector map, the computer's purple eye appearing at the bottom. Before he had a chance to say anything, the computer said, "Sonic, we've got trouble. Releasing the security lock may have been a bad idea. The STH-X has invaded the water environment in Sector 4 (AQA) with several thousand X. With the blue hatches active, the STH-X slipped in easily. The creatures and systems in Sector 4 are already showing multiple irregularities. I'm currently investigating. I'll brief you at the Navigation Room when you arrive." The connection was then cut.

Sonic figured there was no point in arguing or saying anything to the machine, so he went to the elevator and began to ride it up. As it ascended, he thought, "_The STH-X. An enemy with my best abilities, possibly even my Chaos abilities. But it probably doesn't have a reason. It's just some killing machine. As I am now, I can't face it. The STH-X is me, only heartless. I've got to stop it before it learns what it's capable of and threatens this universe…_"

**Back on Earth, at Dr. Eggman's island fortress**

Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun stood around the door to Eggman's R&D chamber, wondering what the doctor was up to. He'd been working on some new robot ever since he had heard that Sonic was in the hospital, which was days ago. "What do you suppose the doctor is busy creating this time?" Decoe asked. "It is surely something powerful. Except stopping to eat, he's been working in there for days." Bocoe said. Bokkun whined, "I hope he gets done soon! I want ice cream and I can't get it! The stores lock me out unless Dr. Eggman's with me!"

The door to the R&D chamber was extremely thick, preventing the robot's chatter from getting inside. Not that Dr. Eggman would've heard it anyway, as his machines and tools were running loudly and he was too absorbed in his latest creation to pay attention to any outside distractions. As he looked over what he'd done so far, he grinned, "Just a little more now. Soon, I'll attack the city and get the Master Emerald while Sonic's dealing with bed sores!" He then looked around the room and asked, "Now, where did I put my lunch? While my machines put on the finishing touches, I must get back to conquering the five food groups!"


	10. That Wet Feeling

**Guardian Mountain, transit station**

The capsule transporting the Chaotix skidded to a halt as it entered the station, suddenly slowing down from a very fast speed. Fortunately, the passengers within were not tossed through the window thanks to their seatbelts. Even Charmy had remembered to wear one, after having to be forced by Vector and Espio to do so.

The covering flipped open, a soldier running over and asking, "Everyone in one piece? We were kind of in a hurry to get you guys here." Charmy cheered, "Wahoo! That was SO cool! We were going so fast, then we stopped super quick! Can we do it again?" Espio sighed, "Maybe later, Charmy. We've got work to do now!" Vector looked at the soldier and said, "As you can see, we're fine. So what's going on here? We heard something was happening with your security system."

The soldier said, "Just follow me. I'll explain all the details on the way!" With that, he ran for the nearby doors that led into the base, Vector following behind him with Espio and Charmy following after him. As they hurried through the base and ran past personnel working on the problem, the soldier hurriedly explained what had been going on to the detectives.

As they ran down a hall, the soldier pointed and said, "Up ahead is the main computer room! You three go on ahead while I let the commander know that you've arrived!" The Chaotix continued ahead while the soldier went through a nearby door. This door opened into a small observing room surrounded by thick glass. Also inside the room were a pair of consoles and a chair reserved for the commander. Beyond the glass was a room full of consoles and maps of the world, with some displaying surveillance footage from around the world. Although at the moment, most of them were displaying what O.T.I.S.' defense systems were seeing.

The soldier saluted the commander, who was looking out upon what everyone was doing, and said, "Sir! The Chaotix have arrived and are heading for the computer room now!" Commander Tower turned around and said, "Good work, soldier. I have my communicator on so I'll be able to communicate with them and provide any aid that I can. Let them know that and provide any immediate help you can." The soldier nodded and left the room, heading in the direction that he'd directed the Chaotix in.

As he turned back to what was going on below and sitting down in his chair, the Commander murmured, "How could this have happened? Not even Dr. Eggman can hack into our system without us knowing. And all discharged personnel are stripped of anything that could allow them back into the system. That's how G.U.N. has always done things…"

**SRL Station, Sector 4 Navigation Room**

Sonic ran into the room and stepped up to the computer, pressing several buttons and bringing up a link with his ship. Once it was established, the sector map appeared in front of him, showing Sonic that the sector was quite big, a little bigger than Sector 1 was. As he looked it over, Sonic thought, "_Man, I just hope they had this suit water-proofed. Since the map doesn't actually show what's in those rooms, there's no telling how many are full of water._"

The purple eye of his ship's computer appeared on the screen, its robotic voice saying, "This sector has taken more damage than expected… I knew the X were powerful and destructive, but still… This seems to be purposeful. We certainly can't rule out the possibility that the STH-X has a high degree of intelligence. I find the X fascinating, especially this STH-X." Sonic spoke up, "Hey pal! They're a bunch of body snatchers who are looking for power and intelligence! What could be so fascinating?"

The computer was silent for a moment before saying, "…But I digress. This sector is home to a very large creature the researchers called Serris. It is capable of moving and attacking at ultra-high speed. The more senseless and widespread destruction here may be attributable to Serris. No doubt the STH-X released it, but I can't be sure why yet." Sonic shrugged, "A creature that can move at a speed that's almost as fast as me? How could the X not want a prize like that? They'd definitely want something like that on their side. Got any idea on where it is now?"

The computer moved the map to a room that was two squares in length, saying, "Serris has returned often to the breeding tank here. Its natural behavior must be to go back to it periodically. It's a valuable specimen, but you have been authorized to terminate it. If you don't, it may attempt to invade other sectors. Is you objective clear?" Sonic nodded, "Yep. Not gonna like this sector much, but I'll get to it."

The computer replied, "Good. And while you're moving, be careful. Some broken power nodes have electrified the water, but we can't cut the power. Doing so would affect the whole station adversely. If you touch the water, you'll be electrocuted." Sonic sighed, "Yeah, yeah. I know what'll happen if you mix water and electricity and go near it." The computer added, "You'll have to conserve energy as you go." After saying this, the link went dead.

Leaving the Navigation Room, Sonic quickly passed through the sector foyer and a connecting passage. As he passed into the following room, he heard the sound of electricity crackling, his suit helping to amplify the sound. Climbing up through a mini shaft above him, Sonic broke a weak section of wall and leapt to where it had been, surveying the area beneath him. "_Geez, that guy wasn't kidding. As if water wasn't bad enough before; this definitely looks just plain lethal,_" Sonic thought to himself as he looked at the sparking water below. Thankfully, some blocks hanging from the ceiling provided him with a makeshift bridge; defeating the X that were hanging on several blocks, he made his way across the room.

After getting through a room with a pair of water tanks and crossing another electrified water room, Sonic found the Pump Control Unit, though it was inaccessible at the moment. Seeing that there was a Computer Room nearby, Sonic returned to the previous room and climbed up the shaft, knocking out a few spiky creatures on his way. After entering and finding that the computer had been destroyed during the STH-X's attack, the sensors in Sonic's suit alerted him to a crack in the nearby wall. After scanning it and seeing that it was weak, he fired a shot to open it up and rolled into a Morph Ball to fit through, heading for the location of Serris' breeding tank.

Hopping up onto the edge of the tank, Sonic was surprised to see a skeleton, presumably Serris', sitting on the bottom of the tank. "Huh, that's weird. Though I guess that explains why there was no eyeball guard on the door. But if that's the real Serris, then where's the X that infected it?" he murmured to himself. Moving into the room beyond, he jumped between the broken pieces of a beam and climbed up a ladder, leaping across to a ledge holding a somewhat deep pool of water. "I don't see any open wires, so I guess it's okay to jump in…" he muttered, leaping in after a considerable amount of mental preparation.

Luckily for Sonic, his suit provided him with plenty of oxygen and allowed him to move through the water, albeit somewhat sluggishly. Finding an eyeball guard covering the hatch he found at the bottom, Sonic blasted it with three missiles when its true eye showed. "_Alright, the Serris-X must be up ahead. I'll show that X not to mess with me, fast or not,_" Sonic thought to himself. Walking through the hatch, he climbed out of the tank he entered and walked across the platform floating at the top, looking around.

Suddenly, the platform shook, several parts breaking off and falling into the water, Sonic almost losing his balance! A roar sounded from behind him, something slamming into him extremely fast before he even had a chance to turn around, knocking him into the water. As he landed face first on the bottom, something zoomed around above him, coming down and burrowing into the ground next to him as he stood up. As the creature burst out of the ground at the other end of the tank, Sonic said, "Oh, think you're so tough, huh? Hope you're ready for the frozen fish section!"

The Serris-X proved to be a tricky opponent for Sonic; although he quickly figured out that its head was weak to charged shots, its movements were hard to predict. And when he did land a direct hit on it, it suddenly started dashing around the room in a rage! Still, it didn't take much to put Serris-X down, its snake-like body exploding as its head gave out one final roar before fading back to its Core-X state. The Core-X did a bit of damage to him, as it wasn't easy to move around in the water, but Sonic still managed to destroy its outer shell and expose its softer inside, which floated above the broken platform above the water.

Absorbing it, Sonic received a new ability called the Speed Booster. Leaving the room and testing it, he found out that he could now run just like before he was given the Fusion Suit! Deciding to make sure he hadn't gotten rusty after being without his speed for so long, he used it to get back to a familiar section of the sector and headed for the Pump Control Unit, breaking through the wall to the console. He then spent a little time exploring the sector some more after lowering the water level, as the water was out of the range of the broken circuitry.

After he had explored what he could, he returned to the Navigation Room fully recharged and contacted his ship. The eye of the computer appeared, saying, "So Serris had been infected by the X as well… Well, as a result, you recovered your supersonic speed thanks to a new suit ability. At this rate, you may be able to face the STH-X yet… But that's still a ways off." Sonic said, "Yeah, I guess that's true. I'm still missing my Homing Attack and Spin Dash, plus that thing has an Ice Beam. Not exactly a comforting thought."

The computer continued, "HQ has sent more support data. This time it's Missile upgrade data. You desperately need this, but the Data Room here is sealed with a Level 4 lock, the highest security level. Let's avoid opening sensitive areas unless it's absolutely necessary. As for Sector 2, the Data Room is blocked by still more STH-X activity. I note a deliberate pattern, as if it knows you're trying to recover and is attempting to block it intentionally." Sonic added, "And I can't go back to the Main Deck since the elevator is still out. What does that leave us?"

The computer spoke, "Sonic, it looks like your best option for this download is in Sector 3 (PYR). You will find the PYR Data Room on your map after using the Navigation Room there. So get to Sector 3 as soon as you can." With the connection severed, Sonic left the Navigation Room and climbed onto the glowing platform, riding it back up to the access shaft.

**Meanwhile, inside G.U.N. HQ's main computer room**

Espio was seated at the main console, typing on the keyboard in an attempt to aid the military in helping the system recover while Vector stood behind his chair and Charmy hovered nearby. Charmy buzzed closer and asked, "Espio, have you gotten anywhere yet?" Vector grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him back, saying, "Back off, Charmy! He needs to stay focused!" Espio sighed, "I'm not a computer geek. Why am I always getting stuck with this job?"

Charmy suddenly broke free of Vector and said, "Get out of the way! We'll do what we did last time we needed to get something!" As he Charmy back up a bit, Vector yelled, "What are you doing? Get over here!" He attempted to grab Charmy, but was too late as the bee suddenly slammed his stinger into the console, Espio moving out of the way just in time.

After he slammed into the console, a blue portal suddenly opened on the side of the mainframe! Vector said, "Ah, of course! We send someone into the inner workings and they can deal with the problem from there! Espio!" The chameleon nodded, "Roger that." Before he could jump in, the soldier from earlier said, "Wait! Take this communicator with you. You'll need it if you want to contact us from there." Espio nodded, slipping the communicator on the side of his face and then jumping into the portal.

**Inside the mainframe, the system matrix**

Espio appeared on a platform similar to the ones he had seen in Eggman's Mad Matrix. Looking around, he saw many different colors flashing around this realm, almost like the dance floor in a disco. He spoke into the communicator, "Either I'm inside or I was just teleported into a large, unpopular 70s disco." A window that looked similar to a pop-up ad appeared near him, saying, "Good. That means you're inside the system and are very close to the center of the problem. See any problems?"

Espio glanced around, seeing some icons flying around nearby, and said, "Something tells me these icons don't look very user-friendly. And they look kind of like that logo that the S.O.N.I.C.X. uses." The window appeared again, "Keep an eye out while you're in there. Our technicians uploaded a security program to deal with the problem before you guys got here. That means you could have aid while you're in there, and it could be in any form." Espio nodded, "Roger. I see a large tower, presumably a terminal, nearby. I'll start by checking that out." As he began to walk along a digital walkway, he thought, "_This place feels like the Metropolis Zone, back when Eggman still used it as a base._"

Espio had only just begun walking when one of the icons, which looked like a black Sonic head with a red slash through it, floated over to him and said, "UNIDENTIFIED SIGNAL DETECTED!" Another came over and said, "HALT, MYSTERIOUS PROGRAM!" Espio glared at them and said, "Let me give you both a little tip. Next time you talk, try turning off Caps Lock!" He then smashed into both of them, breaking them apart and alerting the rest of them!

Espio continued to make his way through the digital matrix, avoiding the drones flying everywhere by taking any available paths to throw them off and using his ninja skills as he made his towards the tower. Unfortunately, the longer he took, the more that arrived, and it seemed unlikely that he would get any help. Still, he pressed onwards until he was suddenly surrounded on all sides by the drones!

Just as they were about to charge him, they suddenly froze in midair! A moment after they froze, the sound of gunshots rang out as they were all destroyed! Turning towards where the shots had come from, Espio's eyes widened at who he saw, only able to say, "What? Shadow?" Standing across from him on the same purple cube was the black and red hedgehog, holding a G.U.N. pistol in his right hand while his left was outstretched, as if he had been using Chaos Control. He gave the chameleon a cocky grin and said, "Bang. They go down so easily, don't they?"

* * *

Sorry for the lack of any Tails or Team Dark action in this chapter. I figured it was time to give the Chaotix some more time in the spotlight, seeing as they've just recently entered the situation.

As for the Espio section at the end, I figured it would be a good way to go back to Shadow the Hedgehog by bringing back the digital realm. It was also inspired by the most recent issue of STC-O, specifically the Chaotix story. I hope no one minds this.

Finally, now that Sonic has his speed back, I'll be attempting to include more than one sector per chapter. Not every chapter though, that would make the story move too fast. Next chapter will definitely have two, though.


	11. Hunters

**G.U.N. mainframe, near the central terminal**

As Espio looked at the black hedgehog across from him, a window appeared near the cube they were standing on, saying, "Espio, what's going on in there? It sounded like there were gunshots near you." Espio spoke into the communicator, "Yeah, that's what those were. I ran into Shadow and he just destroyed some of the drones. Was he sent here before we came?" The window spoke, "No, we don't know where Shadow is. If he had entered the mainframe, it would've showed up on the security log, whether he had permission or not. Which means that Shadow is a part of the security program that was uploaded."

Espio asked, "Part of the security program? But it looked like he used Chaos Control!" The window said, "According to the notes provided by the people who are working on it, it's similar to Chaos Control, but it only affects digital matter. It can't affect anything that's from the real world. Since you met up with him, see if he'll be willing to help you. Getting O.T.I.S. to function properly will be easier if you've got someone who knows the way around and can help you when you get attacked." After saying that, the window closed.

Espio looked up at the Shadow program, which was busy scanning the immediate area for any more of the S.O.N.I.C.X. drones when Espio started talking. He said, "Hey, you're a part of the countermeasures that G.U.N. uploaded, correct?" The hedgehog replied, "Yes. My function is to locate intruders or foreign programs in the system and eliminate them. As a program that's still in development, however, I am unable to spend large amounts of time within a system without returning to where I came from and recharging."

Espio nodded, "I see. I was sent here by the military to get the security system back on-line." The program said, "Yes. My programming identifies you as a friendly, not an intruder." Espio continued, "Do you know where to go to reset the system?" The hedgehog nodded, "That central tower is the stronghold of the enemy. That's where O.T.I.S.'s hard drive is located; their hidden program reversed the system's entries and must be purged for O.T.I.S. to regain control. I was just on my way there now." Espio said, "Since we're headed for the same location for the same reason, we should work together. We can cover each other that way." The program processed what he said before saying, "Agreed. Follow me. I know a shortcut to the tower."

Espio followed closely behind the Shadow program, keeping an eye out for any more drones as they hurried towards the tower. They soon reached the base of it after encountering very little resistance and they noted that the front was heavily surrounded by the floating heads. "Can we get in another way besides the front door?" Espio asked. The program said, "Affirmative, although we will still attract attention and it will take longer as there are no other entrances aside from the maintenance hatch underneath, which is heavily guarded as well." Espio nodded, "So we might as well do this the hard way." The program nodded, "Ready when you are."

The two dashed for the entrance, Espio throwing shuriken and the Shadow program shooting its gun as they ran. Their long-range attacks hit their targets, some of the drones being destroyed by them. The remaining drones instantly took notice of them and began to rush them to eliminate them. Espio used his natural ability to camouflage himself to confuse some of them while the program used a Spin Dash to cut through their numbers. After forcing their way through the firewall at the entrance, they infiltrated the tower, knowing there would be many more drones guarding the inside.

**Aboard the SRL Station**

After returning to the access shaft, Sonic put his speed to good use, making it to the elevator to Sector 3 in less than five seconds. After riding it down, he stepped into the Navigation Room and contacted his ship, receiving the map of the sector in the process. The computer spoke, "Thankfully, the X have not yet invaded this area yet… The Data Room here is sealed by another security hatch." Sonic interrupted, "And to get it, I have to find the Security Room and release the lock, right?"

The computer said, "Yes. This may allow the STH-X and X parasites into the area… But we are left with no choice. Your recovery is our main goal." It moved the map over to mark the location of the Data Room before continuing, "The Data Room is located here. As I explained, Security Rooms can't be shown on the map. Be careful, Sonic. You will see some very violent organisms here. And avoid the ultra-heated areas; your suit can't take such high temperatures yet, but we're working on it. There are no ultra-heated areas on this route, so turn back immediately if you enter one. First activate the green Level 2 hatches. Then proceed to the Data Room for download. Super Missile data is ready. Your firepower will triple."

Leaving the Navigation Room, Sonic dashed through the following two rooms and into the sector foyer, breaking through a few weak spots in the walls. Landing on the floor at the bottom of the foyer, he turned around and headed in the direction he had just run, once again blasting through another door and another weak section of wall. At the end of the room, he found a green hatch blocking the way, but a scan of the wall above revealed a spot weak to high speed dashes. Blasting through the blocks and using a bomb, he found himself in the Security Room. Once again, he stepped up to the console and placed his hand on it, releasing the Level 2 locks.

Leaving the Security Room, he saw that the computer was right about the X invading after the locks were released, as several X appeared in the hallway, taking the shape of new creatures he hadn't seen before. They were rather sturdy, requiring several missiles to get them to break down back to their X state. "_Hope these Super Missiles live up to their name. These guys are starting to get a little tough. Not that I don't enjoy a challenge!_" Sonic thought to himself as he finished them off and headed for the Data Room.

A short while later, Sonic arrived at the Data Room and hooked himself up to the machine, downloading the Super Missile data. After receiving the download, the room was suddenly shaken by a tremor. "Oh great. What now?" Sonic murmured to himself as he left the room. Moving through the room outside into the adjacent room, he found a hole had been made in the ground, leading to the rooms behind a destroyed hatch he'd seen earlier. He also found the hatch he'd come through earlier destroyed.

As he looked at it, the hallway started to shake, bits of rock breaking off the ceiling as the shaking continued. Looking down the hall, he noticed that it seemed to be coming from the direction of the Data Room, so he hurried in that direction to investigate. Going through the hatch, he saw a large six-legged robot destroying the hatch to the Data Room. It then noticed him and rushed at him to attack!

Sonic leapt to the ceiling, clinging onto the bars there to avoid its rush. It attempted to leap at him from the floor, but it couldn't jump high enough to reach him. The center unit then opened and it shot out a grenade that exploded into pillars of fire that alternated between tall and short. Seeing where it had come from, Sonic began to fire missiles at the center, damaging the casing. As he continued to dodge its attacks and hit it with missiles, he began to notice a brain being held within.

Shortly after its brain had been revealed, the robot stumbled away, Sonic letting go of the bars to follow. Once it was shakily standing in front of the destroyed hatch, it leapt straight up, destroying a section of the ceiling as it escaped. After waiting for the falling rubble to stop, Sonic glanced up to see it had left a sizable hole behind. "Hey, since I can't go back the way I came, I might as well follow after that thing!" Sonic said as he leapt up through the hole.

After a run through several rooms, Sonic returned to the Navigation Room and contacted his ship again. Once the connection was through, the computer spoke, "I see that you encountered a rogue Security Robot. You may destroy it if you meet it again. Your safety is vital. But as to your brief… Level 2 security locks are released, so Sectors 5 and 6 are open. That means those sectors have likely been infiltrated by X. They are much harder to stop than we initially suspected…" Sonic said, "Yeah, that's for sure. Some of them are starting to become more resistant to my attacks."

The computer continued, after a moment of silence, "Sector 5 (ARC) is sub-zero. You're still susceptible to cold from the vaccine's side-effects, so you'll take damage if you even set foot inside there. Avoid Sector 5 for now, but in the meantime, HQ is working on data to adjust your suit for extreme temperatures. Once we have the transmission, you can download it, but… The X have destroyed all the Data Rooms you have used so far. I no longer doubt their capacity for critical thought." Sonic asked, "What about Sector 6? Anything worth going there for?"

The computer said, "There's a Data Room in Sector 6 (NOC) that you can make the download from. Go to Sector 6 and access the Navigation Room there. Tread lightly, Sonic. You are the only one who can do this. And the X may be much more dangerous than we know…" Sonic left the room once the computer was done and rode the elevator up, wondering during the ride how the computer had known about his encounter with the robot. As far as he knew, the computer had no way of knowing what he was seeing…

**Prison Island, Dr. Kai Narasu's workroom**

The doors to the workroom burst open, Howard Watcher walking in. Turning around in his seat, Dr. Kai said, "Doesn't anyone around here know how to knock?" Howard said, "I'm in no mood for courtesy, Doctor! Everyone's wondering when Sonic is finally going to get what's coming to him! This was all your idea, doc; you've gotta give us some idea how much longer he's going to be scampering around!"

Dr. Kai removed his glasses and wiped them, saying, "My research on the X isn't complete yet! If we're going to profit off of this incident before the military finds out what's happened, we need to know everything! I'm sure to find out something new in the nocturnal habitat, so just tell them to be patient." Howard said, "Alright, I'll try to convince them that. By the way, does Sonic suspect anything? That's something else we're wondering about." The doctor shook his head, "No, I do not think so. I've been very careful about how much I want him to know." Howard nodded, "Good. We'll be keeping an eye on him too." He then left, leaving the doctor to finish sending the new download out to the SRL Station.

**SRL Station, Sector 6 entrance**

Sonic stepped into the sector's Navigation Room, contacting his ship and receiving the map for the area. The familiar purple eye appeared on the screen, the ship saying, "The Varia Suit data is here from HQ, ready to download. Get moving to the Data Room, but be alert. X from the sub-zero sector ARC are in Sector 6 (NOC), and they…" Sonic asked, "And they what? C'mon, spill it! I don't like standing around in this place!"

After a moment, the computer called up a small window that showed a blue X and continued, "They've been changed by the cold. If you absorb one, you'll be frozen from within. This seems like a deliberate tactic. Once you download the Varia Suit modification, you'll be out of danger. Just be extremely careful until then." It marked the Data Room with a 'TARGET' marker before saying, "The NOC Data Room is here. Remember, avoid the blue X. You should be able to use your beam to stun them. Be careful, as they are hunting you actively now, Sonic… And this area is very dark. Proceed with extreme caution." It then cut the transmission, allowing Sonic to begin his exploration.

It didn't take Sonic long to enter the dark areas of the sector, at which point he switched the suit's night-vision on. Not long afterwards, he spotted one of the blue X that the computer had alerted him to. As soon as it noticed him, it swooped towards him, attempting to get absorbed by him. A shot was enough to stun it though, the X shaking in midair as Sonic ran underneath it. The run through the sector became a game of cat and mouse, as the X began to gang up on him in an attempt to freeze him to death. Still, he was doing well until he was just outside of a hatch, at which point one swooped in out of nowhere and touched him, being absorbed into him.

As soon as it was absorbed, Sonic stopped moving. He began to shiver violently, his face frozen in an expression of utter shock. His insides felt like one big mass of ice, his senses fading as the cold spread through him. He hardly registered that he fell on the ground, his body hardly changing positions as he hit. His suit seemed to desperately work on trying to warm him up, but it was quite a while before the feeling came back to him, his body still shaking heavily from the cold. Eventually, he recovered enough feeling to crawl to the nearby hatch and open it, forcing himself inside before the other X could find him.

Once the hatch closed, Sonic pushed himself up into a sitting position, resting his back against it. His breathing was a bit labored as he tried to focus on warm thoughts, his body still freezing from the sneak attack. He reached up to his helmet, not caring if he would be protected without it on as he was in no condition at the moment to defend himself anyway, and pulled it off, letting it drop to his side as he breathed. There was no denying it: he was officially scared now. Still, he refused to back down at this point and, after spending a few more minutes of letting his body get back to a more comfortable temperature, slipped his helmet back on as he stood up.

Glancing around the small room he'd entered, he found traces of Talloric Alloy in the nearby raised platform. Planting a bomb on it, he found a hidden passage leading to a room below him and followed it down, heading into the neighboring hallway upon landing. Unfortunately, there was a wall blocking the hall that was composed of Bendezium, which none of his weapons could destroy. Suddenly, he shivered as he sensed a familiar presence approaching from behind and rolled into a Morph Ball, planting a bomb and getting out of sight just as the hatch behind him opened.

The STH-X walked into the hall, glancing around as it could feel that Sonic was close by, but could not pinpoint where exactly he was. Spotting the wall, the STH-X decided to try to force him out of hiding. Walking up to the wall, it crossed its arms across its chest, then brought them out to its sides as its body shook, vibrating the molecules within itself as well as the air around it. It began to shake harder as it shook the air more, the wall crumbling under its force and the floor Sonic was hiding under collapsing, though he found a spot that didn't break to hide under.

After several minutes of shaking the room, the STH-X stopped and looked around, seeing that it had trashed almost the whole hall. It couldn't see Sonic, though, so it figured that he was not close by after all, even though the hedgehog was right underneath it. It walked past the broken wall and leapt down from a ledge, then turned and destroyed another hatch before walking through it. Sonic waited several moments before coming out of his hiding spot and following its path, relieved to see that it was nowhere in sight. With this thought comforting him, he continued onwards to the Data Room.

A few rooms later, Sonic found an eyeball guard on the door to the Data Room. A Super Missile easily destroyed it, and Sonic hurried inside, suspecting that the X had beaten him to the data. And his hunch was correct, as he found a Core-X hooked up to the computer, downloading the data! He fired a few missiles at it, but it stayed attached and soon destroyed the console as it escaped. Sonic growled, "I didn't almost freeze to death just to lose what I came down here for! Get over here, you ugly blob!"

Following the Core-X into the nearby room, Sonic found that it had become much bigger and had surrounded itself with a ring of smaller X! He quickly found that missiles had no effect on the Mega Core-X or its ring, possibly an immunity caused by the Varia Suit data. After dodging a ram from it, he tried firing a pair of charge shots, the first hitting and destroying one of the smaller X while the second hit the large Core-X and made it reel back. He continued to fire charge shots at it until it reverted back to its basic Core-X form.

As soon as it did, Sonic began to fire missiles at it while dodging its charges. The Super Missiles made short work of it and its outer shell was soon destroyed. He then leapt to absorb the soft insides before it could escape, recovering the Varia Suit data. As soon as he landed, a light erupted from the chest of the suit as its appearance changed. When the light cleared, the suit had changed from being mostly blue to alternating between red and white, its overall shape changing somewhat. Instead of having three quills on the back of the helmet, the back now jutted out in a slight curve in one spot. The visor was now blue instead of black and a small tank seemed to be sitting on his back, just above one of the suit's jump units.

Leaving the room to return to the Navigation Room, Sonic entered a shaft with blue X hovering near the ladder. When they spotted him, they rushed towards him to freeze him, but Sonic stood where he was, deciding to see how well this new upgrade worked. As he suspected, when they were absorbed into him, he didn't freeze up like last time; instead he felt his suit recover a bit. As he stood there, he sighed, "Ah… You guys provide a nice breeze." He then continued on back to the Navigation Room, laughing when he saw all the blue X now trying to run from him. Apparently, word did get around fast.

Stepping into the Navigation Room, feeling refreshed after absorbing another blue X, Sonic contacted his ship's computer, which spoke, "How did that X download the Varia Suit data? This doesn't seem to make any sense at all, unless the X…" Sonic asked, "Unless the X what?" The computer responded, "Unless the X have the ability to process data organically… At any rate, you have the Varia Suit data. Now you will be protected from extreme temperatures. More importantly, the STH-X will no longer be able to freeze you, so you can escape easier." Sonic grinned, "Sweet! I can't wait for the chance to fight it!"

The computer continued, "But you're still too weak. That thing is too much for you now. Scans indicate that it has somehow improved its defenses, despite not appearing any different. If it really has increased its defenses, then you currently have no way of damaging it. But my simulations indicate that a penetrating weapon like a Plasma Beam might work." Sonic asked, "Is there data for something like that? When can you get it to me?" The computer replied, "Developing modification data will take HQ some time. There's also a chance that you may be able to upgrade your beam to a Plasma Beam by absorbing a large Core-X, as you did with the Charge Beam function. Although I doubt you will be able to receive an Ice Beam function…"

Sonic asked, "Why not? I'm protected against the cold now, aren't I?" The computer answered, "True, but that's to protect your suit from damage caused by temperatures. Your current cellular makeup would likely reject such an addition. However, HQ has developed an Ice Missile upgrade. This will add a freezing effect to your Missiles. It will help. Go to Sector 5 (ARC) for the download." The screen then went back to static, so Sonic headed for the elevator and rode it back to the access shaft.

**The slopes of Guardian Mountain**

Tails, Knuckles, and Amy rested behind a large rock, catching their breaths while the G.U.N. robots were busy searching for them. As they had made their way through the forest, the robots had attempted to ambush them on all sides by using the trees, forcing them to play a similar game to avoid being attacked. Eventually, they made it out of the forest and began climbing up the base of the mountain, fighting the robots guarding the base before needing to stop while the robots ahead started searching for them.

Knuckles panted, "Man, these things just keep coming! How much farther is it to the entrance, Tails?" Tails pulled out a small handheld device and clicked a few buttons to bring up a map of the mountain. After a moment, he said, "We should be getting close. Just a little more to go before we reach the top. Of course, it's probably going to be guarded by some of the tougher robots that the military has." Knuckles pumped his fists and said, "Well it's a good thing I'm just warming up then! We'll be inside in no time!"

They began to hear the sound of jets coming closer, followed by gunfire coming from the forest below. Tails said, "Chuck must be covering us from below! C'mon, we'd better move now!" The trio leapt out from behind the rock, Amy shouting, "All right! It's time for a girl's touch!" They continued up the slope, Tails ready with his Dummy Ring Bombs and Amy keeping her hammer ready to swing at any time.

**Dr. Eggman's island fortress**

In Dr. Eggman's R&D lab, the doctor was wearing his usual sinister grin as he looked down at his completed machine. Below the catwalk he was standing on was a large gray machine that had four legs attached to a central unit. The unit was made for Eggman's Eggmobile so that he could control it directly, allowing everyone to see the look on the doctor's face as he terrorized them and forced him to give him their planet. Besides its large legs, it was also equipped with missiles and bombs.

Dr. Eggman laughed, "Ho ho ho! My new Egg Walker is complete at last! With Sonic out of the way, the city of Station Square will be like a playground for me! And once it falls, the rest of the Earth will soon follow! My Eggman Empire will soon become a reality!"

* * *

Before anyone says anything, I realize that the Egg Walker is from Sonic Adventure. Keep in mind, though, that it never appeared in the Sonic X anime or comics, so it could be that Eggman never built it. Therefore, it can be used here as a new machine.

If you want a better idea of what Sonic's Varia Suit looks like, I based its appearance off of the suit Sonic is wearing on the cover of Sonic the Hedgehog #128.


	12. Calm Before the Storm

**G.U.N. mainframe, the heart of the central terminal**

After fighting their way through the drones guarding the hallways and following the instructions that had been programmed into it, Espio and the Shadow program arrived at the heart of the terminal tower. As they stood in the doorway, Espio was reminded of the Eclipse Cannon's control room, except that this room was much bigger. Its size brought to mind the arena where he and the real Shadow had battled Dr. Eggman's Egg Breaker robot while trying to extract information from his databanks.

The two quickly made their way across the room to the control console on the other side that was the digital world's representation of O.T.I.S.'s brain. The screen above the console was displaying the S.O.N.I.C.X. logo, showing that the system was under their control. The Shadow program immediately went to work, attempting to purge O.T.I.S. of the takeover. It didn't manage to do much before the console started sparking, pushing both him and Espio away. Espio asked, "What's going on? Why is it doing that?" The Shadow program replied, "I've seen this before. It means that there's something in here that is the source of the virus. The only way to purge the system is to destroy it."

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling sound as a barrier of rocks separated Espio and the program from the console and sealed off the room's entrance. Immediately afterwards, the source of the virus began to appear in the middle of the room, pixels forming as the creature took shape. When it was complete, it resembled some sort of large demon: a mouth full of fangs (two of them poking out of its mouth), small bat-like wings on its back and in place of its ears, horns on its head, white fur on its stomach, arms, hands, and feet with blue fur everywhere else, yellow irises with green pupils, and long red claws protruding from its three-fingered hands, three-toed feet, and its kneecaps. As he looked up at it, Espio wondered if this demonhog was what the members of S.O.N.I.C.X. saw Sonic and the rest of his friends as.

As it began to stomp towards them, Espio asked, "Any idea on how to beat this thing?" The Shadow program said, "None, besides attacking it and seeing what happens." After saying that, the beast leapt towards them, forcing them to scatter, Espio avoiding being smashed by one of its hands after it landed. The program, meanwhile, turned around after dashing a short distance away and shot at it. That seemed to have an effect, as the pixels it was composed of broke for a moment where the shot hit and it seemingly dropped hexagon-shaped rings. One landed near Espio, spinning as it stood upright, and he tried throwing a shuriken at it. The ring broke down when the shuriken hit it, which told Espio that the rings must be important to the demonhog.

The beast turned its attention to the Shadow program and began stomping towards it, though it lumbered rather slowly and seemed to be no match for the program's speed. Before he could take another shot, however, the beast suddenly curled up into a ball and rolled towards the program at a fast speed. He managed to get out of the way before it could hit, the beast hitting the barrier and uncurling. As soon as it did, Espio sent a shuriken into the back of its head, disrupting the pixels and causing it to drop more rings.

After dodging its attacks and destroying the rings that it dropped, Espio and the Shadow program eventually destroyed the last ring and attacked it one last time. As it stood with a shuriken and a bullet in its head, it raised its arms as its head shook around a moment before it bent over, its head hanging while its arms froze near its sides. A beam of red energy shot out from the ground underneath it, the demonhog breaking down as it was engulfed by the beam. The beam disappeared after the beast was completely destroyed, the rock barrier receding afterwards.

Afterwards, a female voice spoke, "System error deleted. System shutdown and reboot procedure will commence in ten seconds." The Shadow program looked at Espio and said, "You'd better jack out of here. If O.T.I.S. shuts down with you inside, you won't be able to get out until it's done with the procedure." Espio nodded and spoke into his communicator, "Vector, I'm done here. Get me out of here before the mainframe shuts down." Vector's words appeared near Espio, saying that he was starting the jack out process. Before he vanished, Espio thanked the Shadow program for his help and wished him luck in protecting the cyber world. After Espio disappeared, the program muttered, "Well, that was interesting. Better be ready for when the system comes back online."

**Guardian Mountain, entrance to G.U.N. HQ**

Tails, Amy, and Knuckles had managed to work their way close to the top of Guardian Mountain, where the Hanger was situated. They had continued to encounter various models of the Beetle, Hunter, and Hornet robots on their climb, though between the three of them and the support that Chris and Chuck were providing, they made it up the mountain alive. Reaching the airfield, they hurried across to the door leading into the HQ.

As they reached the middle of the airfield, however, a shot fired in front of them forced them to stop. Looking up, they found themselves surrounded by dozens of robots that they had faced on the way up. The location of the airfield made it impossible for Chuck to provide them with any cover, and it almost looked like a wall of robots around them. As the robots took aim, they braced themselves to hopefully avoid the upcoming attack.

But the attack never came, as the robots suddenly powered down and collapsed in a heap all across the airfield. As the trio looked around at the deactivated robots, a G.U.N. soldier suddenly ran onto the airfield and called to them. As he got close, Knuckles held up a fist as a warning and yelled, "What's the big idea, pal? You start attacking us with everything you've got in your arsenal, only to shut them off and think that's going to make everything even out?" The soldier stuttered, "W-wait! I know you're angry, but believe me, there's a good reason for what just happened! Our defense system was attacked by a virus hidden within it!"

Tails asked, "A virus hidden in the system? But who could do something like that?" The soldier replied, "I don't know how it happened exactly, but I think we've got a good idea who did it. Come with me, I'll take you to the main computer room. The Chaotix just dealt with the problem and they'll explain what they found out. If you've got any other friends with you, tell them to come too. Everyone needs to hear this." Knuckles calmed down when he heard that the Chaotix were here, and Tails reached into his namesakes and pulled out a communicator to contact Chuck and Chris with.

After a few minutes, the X-Cyclone arrived at the Hanger and landed in an open spot. After Chris and Chuck climbed out, the soldier led them inside the headquarters and showed them the way to the main computer room.

**The Alimbic Cluster, Planet Alinos**

Shadow glanced around the Crash Site as Rouge and Omega were scanning it. It was clear that something had fallen here, but it seemingly left no trace of itself behind. And it must not have been a very big object, as the site was rather small. And judging from one of the cracks in the wall, whatever it was may have left the area long ago.

Rouge turned to him after her Treasure Scope was done scanning the remains around them and said, "I don't know what to tell you, Shadow. Whatever crashed here left no remains behind, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't related to the Black Arms. They leave unusual energy signatures wherever they go, and so far neither my scope nor Omega's sensors have picked anything up." Shadow sighed and turned to Omega, "What about the portal you detected earlier? Can we reach it?" Omega responded, "NEGATIVE. THERE APPEARS TO BE SOME SORT OF ENERGY SHIELD BLOCKING ENTRY. UNABLE TO IDENTIFY ORIGINS."

Shadow growled, "I thought something was wrong with what that lieutenant said. If the Black Arms had been here, I would've felt something." Rouge said, "Okay, so we didn't find them. We can't expect to find their home planet this easily. And the artifact and cannon we found earlier might be worth investigating in the future. Let's get back to the landing site and get off this barren rock." Shadow nodded silently and began to head towards the door leading to the upper part of the Alinos Perch, Rouge and Omega following.

As they stepped out onto a ledge in the perch, several shadows suddenly flew over the area. Omega spoke, "UNKNOWN VESSELS DETECTED OVERHEAD." Shadow and Rouge looked up at the sky, seeing three ships fly above them. The ships seemed to be simple in design: they looked similar to the patrol vehicles that Dr. Eggman's old SWATbots used to use, except they were gray and had two wings that pointed upwards near the back. Two of the ships flew past the Alinos Perch, but the third descended, landing the ship atop one of the old stone formations. Team Dark watched carefully as the cockpit opened, mist appearing as a figure began to emerge…

**G.U.N. HQ, the main computer room**

"Those S.O.N.I.C.X. guys again? Are you sure?" Chris asked. Espio nodded, "I'm sure it's them. The drones that were patrolling the cyberspace looked too much like their logo to be a coincidence. I'm sure the fact that the source of the virus bore an uncanny resemblance to Sonic confirms it." Amy asked, "But how could those guys have gotten into the system and hidden the virus? Only the military could do something like that, right?" Commander Tower spoke, "That's correct, Amy. Do any of you know anyone inside that society that could've done this?"

Tails spoke, "Sonic mentioned that Card Passer and Howard Watcher are members of the group. I wouldn't put it past either of them to have been behind this." Chuck said, "That's right, they used to be part of the military. Though I think Howard Watcher would be the more likely of the two, considering he used to be the warden for Prison Island." Chuck then spoke to Commander Tower, "Watcher mentioned that after Sonic escaped, that was the end of his career. Was he discharged after the island was destroyed by Dr. Eggman's explosives?" The Commander replied, "No. He was reassigned to other security work here afterwards, but he was never the same. He never adjusted to the change in work, and often spent long amounts of time behind closed doors. He was discharged after he openly vowed to get revenge on Sonic."

Tails asked, "Was he ever in here, doing anything to O.T.I.S.?" Commander Tower nodded, "Yes, part of his work was making sure that the defense system operated correctly. It was the only part of his work that he ever seemed interested in." Chuck put a hand on his chin, "He must've inserted the virus while he was working. That's the most likely explanation for how this happened." Knuckles said, "What I want to know is where Shadow is at a time like this. He's been in the digital world before, why didn't he come back here to help?"

The Commander said, "I'd like to know as well. I sent for him after the system went out of control, but no one's been able to find him." Topaz, who was also in the room, spoke up, "Sir, I might have an idea." Once everyone's attention was on her, she continued, "I passed Team Dark while they were on their way to the Hanger. Rouge mentioned something about the Alimbic Cluster. According to our records, it's a star cluster in the Tetra Galaxy, which is not commonly visited by the United Federation. I don't know why they would want to go there, but it's possible that the S.O.N.I.C.X. may be responsible for that as well." Commander Tower nodded, "I see. Thank you, Topaz." He then turned back to Sonic's friends, "I would normally send a squad of ships out to locate Team Dark, but all of our ships are currently scheduled for maintenance."

Tails spoke up, "Not to worry! Thanks to the quiet over the past couple of days, Chuck and I were able to complete the Blue Typhoon, and it's definitely space-worthy!" Chuck reminded Tails, "Yes, but we don't have a power source for it. The Chaos Emeralds are still scattered after the last time they were used." Everyone's eyes then turned to Knuckles, who asked, "What's everyone looking at me for?" Tails said, "Well, you've got an emerald. All Chuck and I would need to do is make a couple of changes so we could use the Master Emerald instead."

Knuckles immediately refused, "Are you crazy? You expect me to loan you the Master Emerald just for a space voyage?" Amy got up in his face and said, "You didn't have a problem bringing it to two cookouts at Chris' house. Even if it was just to keep watch over it, taking it off Angel Island doesn't seem like something you'd normally do, especially if you wanted to have fun." After a little more 'persuading,' Knuckles relented, "Oh, all right! I'll let you borrow the Master Emerald!" Charmy cheered, "Yay! We're going into space!"

Before anyone could say anything else, the alarm started ringing. "What's going on?" Chris cried. Topaz said, "It looks like the system is fully functional again. It's picked up something." Commander Tower went over to one of the technicians in the room and asked what was going on. The technician replied that Dr. Eggman was attacking Station Square with some sort of robot walker…

**Aboard the SRL Station, entrance to Sector 5**

Sonic stepped into the Navigation Room and went to contact his computer, receiving a map of the sector as the connection went through. The computer spoke, "You need to download the data for the Ice Missile upgrade, but…" Sonic rolled his eyes, "Let me guess. The Data Room is secured by a Level 3 lock." The computer replied, "Yes. Level 3 security hatches are yellow. You know what to do. Go to it. And experiment with those new Missiles. They will be helpful…" With that, the link went dead.

After leaving the Navigation Room, Sonic found a way to bypass the Level 3 hatch in the entrance shaft and made it through the large foyer past it. Past the foyer was where the temperature really dropped, the room full of ice and snow. "Geez, it sure does look cold in here. Good thing this suit is protected against it. I can't feel a hint of cold," Sonic muttered to himself as he worked his way down, looking for the Security Room.

Sonic didn't have to do much searching, as a hidden passageway under the lowest part of the map he was given led straight to the Security Room. It also looped around, thanks to a hidden shaft, leading Sonic back to the first frozen room. Climbing back up, he headed in the direction of the Data Room, opening a shutter and the Level 3 hatch behind it. Quickly hooking himself up to the machine, Sonic received the Ice Missile upgrade. Knowing he couldn't go back due to the shutter, Sonic went out the other door, which led him back into the hidden areas of the sector, down a long shaft.

Using the new Ice Missiles, Sonic made it back into the known parts of Sector 5 and began making his way back to the Navigation Room. As he worked his way back around the foyer, he felt the room shaking several times, occasionally seeing a shadow behind the glass whenever it shook. "_What the heck is that…?_" Sonic thought to himself each time he saw it. Still, it didn't seem to be dangerous at the moment, so Sonic shrugged it off.

Unfortunately, the brief moment of calm didn't last long. As soon as Sonic stepped back into the entrance shaft, an alarm began blaring and red lights started flashing. Above all this, a computer's voice continuously spoke, "Emergency in Sector 3. Emergency in Sector 3…"

* * *

Sorry for the long wait on this chapter. I've got my inspiration back, so I'll be sure to update more frequently in the future.

The monster that Espio faced in the cyberworld comes from one of Sonic's cameo appearances in another Sega game. Leave me a note or something if you want to know where it came from.


	13. Crisis Core

The X-Tornado soared across the ocean, headed for Station Square. Chuck sat in the pilot's seat, while Chris sat behind him and Amy and Topaz were sitting in the back. Tails, Knuckles, and the Chaotix were all spread along the outside of the plane, hanging on as Chuck pushed the X-Tornado to its limit. If they were going to stop Dr. Eggman's attack on Station Square, find Team Dark, and stop the S.O.N.I.C.X., they had to hurry, as well as divide and conquer.

"Hang on back there, everyone! We should be reaching the coastal area of Station Square soon!" Chuck called. Tails called back, "Just get us as close as you can, Chuck! It shouldn't take long for me and the Chaotix to locate Eggman once we get to the city while you head out to Angel Island!" Knuckles muttered, "I would rather show that Egghead what for now, but I'm going to need help if we're going to move the Master Emerald quickly."

Soon, the Emerald Coast could be seen from the X-Tornado, as well as most of the city. Everyone began to see explosions coming from the street where Casinopolis was located, likely coming from Eggman's robot. Chuck made a sharp turn once they reached the beach area, allowing Tails and the Chaotix to jump off and have more of a soft landing while he took everyone else to Angel Island. Tails, Espio, and Vector went into a freefall towards the beach, while Charmy giggled and flailed around as he fell. They each slowed their fall as they got close, Tails twirling his twin tails, Charmy fluttering his wings, Vector breathing a stream of fire towards the sand, and Espio stirring up a small wind with his Leaf Swirl ability. Once they were sure they had landed safely, they immediately headed for the casino area to confront Dr. Eggman.

The police force and the SWAT Team had been called out to deal with Dr. Eggman, but they were having very little luck against the doctor's Egg Walker. Its main attack was launching missiles, which would destroy anything that they were hiding behind, as well as damage buildings and send debris raining down on them. The tremors created from its walking were also disorienting, as it would throw off their aiming and leave them open to attack. It seemed like a hopeless situation for the SSPD.

"Oh ho ho ho ho! Get out of my way, you insignificant fools! You can't prevent me from leveling this city for part of my Eggman Empire! Sonic's in the hospital and unable to help you! He won't even be able to help himself once I get past you!" Eggman laughed. Suddenly, something came down from above and hit the center where Eggman was sitting, exploding into golden rings that forced the Egg Walker to step back. "Eh? A Dummy Ring Bomb?" Eggman exclaimed and looked up to see Tails and the Chaotix (being carried by Charmy) flying down from the rooftops.

"Oh ho! Deciding to lead an attack and be a hero in Sonic's place, eh fox boy?" Eggman taunted as they landed. Tails yelled back, "Be quiet, Eggman! You won't get away with this!" Eggman just laughed, "Is that so, Tails? Sonic's in no condition to save you, and you've got just as much reason for being smashed under my massive metal foot as he does!" Espio retorted, "This is no time for us to be settling these grudges, Eggman! We're in the middle of a crisis here, and you're going to be drawn into it sooner or later!" Eggman growled, "I've listened to your blathering long enough! Get ready; I'm sending all of you to your maker!" Vector growled, "Looks like the only way we're gonna be able to reason with him is to smash that thing! Let's go, boys!" Charmy cheered, "Yeah, let's go! Bring it on, Eggman!"

**SRL Station, Sector 5 Navigation Room**

With the alarm blaring, Sonic burst into the room and typed his ship's frequency into the computer console. Almost immediately, the familiar purple eye appeared, saying, "Emergency in Sector 3 (PYR)." Sonic forced himself to resist slapping his head and listened as the computer continued, "The area could melt down soon. It seems the Main Boiler's cooling unit is malfunctioning. This could easily destroy the entire research station, as it would likely trigger the auto-destruct explosives."

Sonic asked, "So how long do we have until that happens? I may be fast again, but there's no telling what's going to be trying to stop me!" After a moment, the computer replied, "We have about 6 minutes. Hurry to Sector 3 and access the Control Room to the side of the Main Boiler room. Most of the systems in PYR are down because of this… Again, we know who to blame. The STH-X must have hacked into the system control file. What impressive intelligence." Sonic growled, "This is DEFINITELY not the time to be praising that thing! Now open the hatches already!" There was a whirring sound as the hatch to the elevator opened. As Sonic ran to the elevator, he faintly heard the computer say, "There's little time. Hurry to the Control Room in Sector 3."

As soon as the elevator reached the access shaft, Sonic ran to the elevator to Sector 3 and went down. Once it reached the bottom, he let his Speed Booster kick into high gear as he blazed through the first three rooms and through a weak section of wall in the foyer, which saved him the trouble of having to go around. Making it to the long shaft, he dropped down it, wasting no time since he was still a ways away from the Main Boiler. Passing into one of Sector 3's super-heated areas, he was grateful for the Varia Suit, as he could only feel a small amount of the intense heat that was surrounding him. Using the bars attached to the ceiling, he quickly made his way over the lava pits, knowing that every second mattered now.

**Planet Alinos, Alinos Perch**

Team Dark looked down from the ledge as the figure stepped out of the mist. It walked down a ramp and stepped onto the stone, its appearance becoming clear to them. It seemed to be some sort of gladiator or soldier, as it was completely clad in armor. The boots, gloves, helmet, and chest area of the armor were dark green, while the arms were white and the legs were white with light green lines running over them. It had some sort of green staff in its right hand, and the helmet covered all but the front of its face, which Team Dark couldn't see due to the angle they were seeing it from.

The figure looked around as it muttered, "My ship's scanner detected the presence of one of the Artifacts required to reach one of the Octoliths on Alinos in this area…" It then looked up at the ledge Team Dark was on and called up to Shadow, "You! Spiky thing!" Shadow spoke, "Watch your mouth, creep! I am Shadow the Hedgehog, leader of Team Dark! And you?" The figure replied, "You tell me to watch my mouth, yet you claim to have not heard of the mighty Drakon Empire?"

Rouge turned to Omega and asked, "Do you have any idea what this weirdo is talking about, Omega?" The hulking robot replied, "NEGATIVE. THERE ARE NO MATCHES FOR A 'DRAKON EMPIRE' IN MY DATABANKS." Rouge looked down at the Drakon and asked, "Does that answer your question?" The Drakon growled, "You dare talk that way to me, a Drakon Prosecutor? Have you any idea how large the eternal Drakon Empire is?" Shadow replied, "No, but why don't you tell us?" The Prosecutor pointed its staff-like weapon at them and spoke, "I'll do better than tell you. You'll get an excellent view of how mighty our Empire is when I take you back to Planet Drak as prisoners!" Shadow snorted, "You think you can capture us? I am the Ultimate Life Form, and soon you're going to be nothing but a smoking hunk of armor!"

Team Dark leapt down from the ledge and landed across from the Prosecutor, turning to face him. Omega retracted his arms and pulled both Shadow and Rouge into them, both of them spinning around as he took aim. He fired them both at the Drakon, who simply held up his staff as it began to affect the area. Shadow and Rouge then stopped short of hitting him as they uncurled to land on their feet, struggling to stay upright. "Hey! Why do I feel so much heavier all of a sudden?" Rouge groaned. The Prosecutor spoke, "Our swords are more than just weapons. They can do many other things, such as increasing the gravity in the immediate area!" Shadow groaned, "Is that so? Well I think it's time to do something about that!" He curled up and then smashed into the Prosecutor with a Homing Attack, knocking him back and causing him to drop his sword. The Prosecutor gasped, "I have never seen anything that can move so fast…"

**SRL Station, Main Boiler Room**

Sonic dashed into the room, glancing at the counter on his helmet's visor and seeing that he still had roughly four minutes left. He made short work of the X that were guarding the Main Boiler, using his Ice Missiles to freeze them to make for easier shooting. After dealing with them, he jumped up the broken catwalks to reach the Control Room's hatch, which was being blocked by a familiar eyeball guard. Its eye flashed twice, shooting a wave of energy both times, before its true eye showed. A Missile took care of it and opened the hatch for Sonic.

Reaching the control console, Sonic found a scientist standing before it, typing something in. He yelled, "Hey, you! What are you doing? Can you get the cooling unit back up?" The scientist ignored his shout, continuing to type on the keyboard. Sonic growled, "Hey, answer me! This is no time to be messing around!" The scientist turned around at that and Sonic froze at the soulless stare he had. After no more than a moment, the scientist morphed into its true shape, a Core-X!

Sonic tried firing a missile at it, but it just bounced off of it as it came towards him. Backing up a bit, he noticed an eye open on its smooth surface and was immediately reminded of the Core-X that had given up the Charge Beam. He fired a missile right into its eye and jumped, narrowly dodging a pink beam that spread out as it was fired. Sonic leapt to the higher parts of the room to avoid its charges and fired a missile at its eye whenever he had a chance. Soon, its outer shell broke and the core floated out, attempting to escape. Sonic quickly leapt after it, grabbing it with his hand and absorbing it, receiving a new Wide Beam ability.

Sonic glanced back at his HUD and noticed he was had a little over two minutes left before the boiler exploded. He ran over to the control console for the cooling unit and looked it over, relieved to see that it was undamaged. After fiddling with the controls for a minute, the screen soon said, "Cooling unit operational." The alarm soon quieted and the flashing red lights stopped shortly afterwards. Sonic sighed to himself, "That could've been a close one. And who knows what else is going on right now…"

**Station Square, Casinopolis street**

Dr. Eggman's Egg Walker leapt from one end of the street to the other, dropping bombs as it leapt. Tails and the Chaotix waited until they exploded before making their move, Tails and Espio dashing towards Eggman while Vector and Charmy went another way. Espio and Tails weaved around the missiles that were fired, making their way under the Egg Walker.

Eggman attempted to crush them, but they both dodged, Tails whirling his namesakes around to damage the weak point on one of the legs while Espio spun into the other. This sent the Egg Walker to the ground, Tails and Espio getting out of the way as Charmy and Vector made their move. Charmy threw Vector from high above the machine and Vector hit it like a cannonball, causing sparks to fly from the controls.

Eggman growled, "I am not going to be defeated now! I think it's time to put your lights out!" He launched more missiles at the foursome, though they scrambled to get out of the way. Vector yelled, "Eggman, we really don't have time for this! We've got to find Team Dark and locate the wackos that are out to get not just us but you too!" Dr. Eggman said, "What are you blabbering about, Vector? Aside from Sonic and the rest of you, who else could be foolhardy enough to be dangerous to my empire?"

Tails flew up above the Egg Walker and threw a Dummy Ring Bomb, saying, "We've got reason to believe that the S.O.N.I.C.X. is looking to kill Sonic before moving onto you and the rest of us! I'm sure you've heard of them before!" After the bomb hit the Egg Walker, it stopped moving, so Tails hovered near the center of it. Eggman placed a hand on his hip and the other on the controls, leaning towards Tails as he said, "I may have heard the name from one of you before, but otherwise, I don't know anything about them. Tell me what you know, Tails."

**Meanwhile, on Planet Alinos…**

Omega was unloading the strongest weapons he was carrying on the Drakon Prosecutor, but nothing he fired seemed to be having an effect. "ILLOGICAL. THIS CANNOT BE. I HAVE GONE THROUGH HALF MY SERVOS AND IT IS STILL STANDING," Omega said. The Prosecutor pushed through the explosives and punched Omega in the face, sending him into a wall and disabling him for a moment. "Yoo-hoo! Up here, big boy!" The Prosecutor looked up to see Rouge spinning towards him with a Screw Kick! She drilled right through his chest, leaving a big gaping hole. "I hate to get nasty with you, but when you want to be a bad boy…" she started.

"Rouge, look out!" Shadow called as he went into a Spin Dash. She ducked as Shadow shot over her and hit something hard. She turned around and gasped in shock; even with the big hole in his chest, the Prosecutor was deflecting Shadow's attack! The Prosecutor held Shadow's attack at bay with his right arm, grabbing him with his left hand and throwing him into a wall. Rouge went in to go kick him in the face, not understanding why this hulking monstrosity was still standing, only to get slapped away. No sooner had she stood up when Shadow yelled, "THAT'S IT!" The Prosecutor turned around to face Shadow just in time to see him spinning at him again, this time slicing through his neck. Shadow landed as he heard a thud from the helmet hitting the ground, followed shortly afterwards by a crash as the armor fell on the ground.

Shadow turned around, expecting to see a familiar thick liquid seeping out of the armor, only to see a familiar clear liquid spilling out. "Is that… Water?" he muttered. He approached the armor, as did Rouge and Omega, examining it. Rouge bent down and looked in the neck of the armor before saying, "Look at all these wires and circuitry! This thing was some kind of robot!" The three of them glanced around upon hearing a light thudding coming from nearby. Their eyes soon came to rest on the helmet, which was flopping around on the ground. Shadow began to approach it, noticing that it was leaking water as well…

* * *

Bit of a short chapter, I know. I just wanted to focus on one thing for each of the perspectives here so I don't advance the story too fast.

My throwing in the Drakon Empire from STC might seem a little random, but I do have an idea for them later on.


	14. Nothing Is What It Seems

**SRL Station, Sector 3 Navigation Room**

After making his way back through the super-heated areas and blasting through any X that wanted to stand in his way, Sonic arrived in the Navigation Room and contacted his ship's computer. The map of the sector soon appeared on the screen, as well as the familiar purple eye. It spoke, "The X mimicked a crew member… It all makes sense now." Sonic remained quiet, letting the computer continue, "The X can absorb the memories and knowledge of their prey. What an astounding find. HQ was very impressed."

Sonic muttered to himself, "I guess that's one to look at it if you're not being hunted by these things."

The computer then asked, "But don't you find it strange? This could have destroyed the station with the X in it, not to mention the STH-X. Unusual for a self-preserving species like the X. Unless…"

Intrigued by the computer's pause, Sonic asked, "Unless what?"

The computer answered, somewhat snootily it seemed to Sonic, "Your presence is an even greater threat, a threat to the existence of X elsewhere… This is only a hypothesis… Perhaps… Their survival instinct is in conflict with their newly-borrowed intelligence… Don't let your guard down yet. The X are still a threat."

Sonic perked up, "No worries there, microchip! These creeps aren't going to get me any time soon!"

After a moment of silence, the computer spoke, "Sonic, I see bio-signs on the Habitation Deck. Survivors? The infected crewman you saw must have survived until recently. Maybe there's a chance… The signs emanate from here." The map shifted from Sector 3 to the Main Deck, locking onto a large room Sonic had not visited yet. The computer then continued, "I have just restored power to the Main Elevator. Use it to return and look for any survivors." With that, Sonic ran out through the nearby hatch and rode the elevator back up to the access shaft.

After returning to the access shaft and riding the Main Elevator back up to the Main Deck, Sonic noticed the destroyed hatch and hole in the wall to the sides of the elevator. "_Guess that shaking I felt earlier was due to that X destroying the wall. I wouldn't have felt anything if it had just broken the door,_" he thought to himself as he made his way to the Habitation Deck. As he headed for the elevator, he noticed a green and yellow barrier blocking the other hatch, which seemed resistant to his attacks, but he ignored it since he didn't have to go that way anyway.

Sonic found the Habitation Deck was comprised of three levels, the bio-signs coming from the top level. Using his Ice Missiles to freeze a Fune-X and a Namihe-X in the shaft, he made it up to the third level, only to find his path blocked by a shutter. With no other way to go, Sonic broke through the floor and made his way down to the first level, where there was a break in the wall that led to a hidden back area that he could climb up.

Emerging from this hidden area, Sonic found himself behind the shutter he had seen earlier and glanced inside the nearby glass to see the creatures he had seen before still running around inside their quarters. The glass prevented him from finding out what they were, so he ran over to the nearby console and released the lock on the door. As soon as the door opened, the creatures came out, revealing themselves to be three blue monkey-like creatures called Etecoons and two green bird-like creatures called Dachoras, one of the two a baby. As Sonic looked at them, relieved to see that they had remained safe all this time, the older Dachora, presumably the mother, bowed to him in gratitude before running out of the Habitation Deck with the Etecoons and the baby comically running to catch up with them.

After watching them leave, Sonic soon followed after them, hoping they could find a place where they would be safe from the X. Returning to the Navigation Room, Sonic called his ship again, the computer's eye appearing and saying, "So the survivors were not human… Most unfortunate. We can now confirm the deaths of all crew members. I imagined this was the case, but I had hoped it wasn't so. I believe the X only infected the humans for knowledge… That form is too weak for battle. I am sure the others were merely food for the X…"

Sonic spoke, "Hey pal, I'm just glad to see that there's at least one thing in this station that hasn't been possessed by these things. Everything else is either already long gone or struggling to avoid being taken over."

The computer continued, "Sonic, I think they are evolving, growing stronger. Some are now appearing that resist your current weapons. HQ anticipated this and sent Power Bomb data as soon as the hardware team finished it. Download it immediately. Our choice of Data Rooms is limited to this one in Sector 5 (ARC). Go. Now." With that, the screen went blank, leaving Sonic to make his way back down to the access shaft.

**Station Square, Casinopolis street**

While the Chaotix stood below to keep an eye on what Eggman was doing, Tails landed on the edge of the doctor's Egg Walker to give his twin tails a break while the two of them talked. Eggman began by saying, "Tell me what S.O.N.I.C.X. stands for anyway. Sounds like some sort of Sonic fan club."

Tails replied, "Sonic actually has joked about that several times already. Anyway, that's short for the 'Society for Observing and Neutralizing Interdimensional Creatures and Xenomorphs.' The name was made by one of their members, Jerome Wise, who claimed he spent days trying to come up with it and said they would rename once they had a better budget after they realized what that spelled."

Eggman huffed, "I don't see what you're so concerned about if they can't even realize their group name spells Sonic until he pointed it out to them. What makes you think I should be worried?"

Tails asked, "Tell me, Eggman, do you remember seeing a Sonic rainbow come attacking your base? Or when Vector got turned into a 40 foot tall monster?"

Eggman gasped at Tails' first question, saying after his second question, "I remember enlarging Bokkun to fight with Vector, but the army of Sonics… That was real? I thought it was a mid-day nightmare!"

Tails replied, "Afraid not, Eggman. Those robot Sonics were definitely real! And they've slowly but surely begun gathering resources to ruin Sonic's name and get rid of him, you, and the rest of us for good! If they can create almost perfect duplicates of Sonic, then who knows how far they'll be willing to go. And that would be bad for you, since they'd be stealing your enemy away and destroying your empire if they went too far."

Eggman placed a hand on his chin, "Hmm, yes. I can't abide the thought of anyone destroying the lot of you besides me or threatening my empire."

Tails said, "Yeah, that's about it. It's about time these guys were brought down. We need to get Shadow, Rouge, and Omega and find out what they're up to with Sonic, but we're going to need all the help we can get. Do you see what I'm saying, Eggman?"

The doctor replied, "Yes, even though the idea is not exactly thrilling. Still, since you and Sonic seem to know the most about them, I am left with little choice."

As he held out a hand, Tails asked, "So we'll work together until these guys have been dealt with?"

Dr. Eggman extended one of his hands, saying as they connected, "Yes. For now, we are allies once again."

Tails tightened his grip as he said, "And just to be clear, Eggman, 'for now' does not include backstabbing."

Eggman shook his hand a little as he said, "Yes, yes, I know. So have you begun thinking of a plan for all this, or were you expecting me to come up with one?"

Tails answered, "First of all, we need to find Shadow, Rouge, and Omega, who are currently in the Alimbic Cluster, and get them back to Earth. Then we need to go straight to the source of the problem, their base on Prison Island, and find out what they're up to. After that, that's pretty much all you need to really be around for, since we can get Sonic once we know where he is. We already have a ship that's being outfitted to go and retrieve Team Dark, so what are you going to do, Eggman?"

The doctor laughed, "Ha! That's all you need me for? It's so simple, so boring, so planned out… And I like it! If you've got all you need, then you go and retrieve my grandfather's legacy. I, meanwhile, will put this away for a later time and find out what kind of defenses may be installed in Prison Island. Considering you know where they are, they probably aren't going to take kindly to you knocking on their door, even if you were selling cookies!"

Tails said, "Alright then. But I want you to take the Chaotix with you. They're pretty good hackers, considering they got into your network and found that hidden message from your grandfather." Eggman reluctantly agreed to that and allowed Espio, Charmy, and Vector to climb aboard the Egg Walker before retracting the legs and flying off for his island base. As he watched them go, Tails muttered, "Ugh, I feel dirty all of a sudden. Still, that went better than I was hoping for. I'd better get over to my workshop and see what's left to do with the Blue Typhoon." With that, he twirled his namesakes around and began making his way over the city towards the Mystic Ruins.

**SRL Station, lower area of Sector 5**

Sonic leaned against one of the frozen walls, slumping down against it. The trip to the Data Room had been pretty uneventful, but afterwards, while using one of his newly obtained Power Bombs to find an alternate way out of the sector, he had run into his X double again. This time, however, it had seen him and chased after him, using Spin Dashes and the Ice Beam it was carrying around. As the computer had said before, it had somehow increased its defensive abilities to the point where the Wide Beam didn't do a thing to it. It could be frozen by his Ice Missiles, however, so Sonic was able to freeze it temporarily and escape through a narrow hole in a wall, the STH-X unable to follow him.

After taking a moment to recover from that close call, Sonic quickly made his way back up through the familiar areas of Sector 5, seeing the strange silhouette in the foyer again as he did. Arriving at the Navigation Room, Sonic contacted his ship's computer, which spoke, "Sonic, return to your ship. I have important information." Although a bit surprised at the vague orders, Sonic made his way back up to the access shaft and headed for the Main Elevator.

Halfway up the shaft, the elevator stopped and the lights went out as there was a loud whirring sound. Sonic sighed to himself and turned on his suit's night vision, as well as the Scan Visor. He found that part of the wall to his left with extremely weak and used his beam to break through it until a small tunnel had been formed. He then rolled into it, working his way through the station's inner workings once again as he made his way back to his ship.

**Planet Alinos, Alinos Perch**

Shadow looked down at the Drakon's helmet, which was still mysteriously flopping around. Grabbing it in both hands, he picked it up and noticed something green wiggling in the helmet's opening. Grabbing it between his right hand's thumb and index finger, he gave a sharp yank, pulling it out. Upon doing so, he and the rest of Team Dark stared aghast at what they were seeing.

"What the…? You're a Drakon?" Shadow exclaimed, looking at what he was holding. Wiggling by its tail was some kind of green fish with a big jaw and a pair of plugs attached to the sides of its body.

The fish gurgled, "That is correct. My race comes from the sea of our homeworld. With our superior intelligence, we have constructed these robot bodies to help us function on dry land!"

Shadow said, "You'll have plenty of time to tell us about your race once we get back to Earth. Seeing as you can somehow live on land without any trouble, consider yourself a prisoner!" After splashing some of the water on the Drakon, he walked up to Omega and had him open his chest compartment. He then roughly shoved it inside, pushing it against the back of the compartment before letting go to ensure it wouldn't try to flop out. After Omega closed his compartment, Shadow turned to Rouge and said, "We're done here. Call for our transport and let's get off this planet before that Drakon's friends show up."

After a few minutes, she turned to him and said, "I'm not getting a response from the pilot. Omega, can you locate the transport?" Omega scanned his internal map for several minutes before locating the ship. Rouge flapped her wings and took off, calling back to Shadow, "I'll go see if anything's happened to the ship. If need be, we might have to figure out how to fly that Drakon's ship to get off this barren rock." She then flew away, heading for the location Omega had tracked their transport to.

* * *

Yeah, I'm switching back to my old style from here on out with this story too. Sorry if it's a bit surprising, but I want to make it easier for everyone to follow.


	15. Blackout

**SRL Station, Docking Bays**

After working his way into the Sub-Zero Containment, where he saw a large, frozen body that seemed similar in appearance to the Gaia Phoenix crumble after an X killed it off, and through the area underneath it, Sonic emerged from the floor outside the hatch leading to the Docking Bays. Dropping down the broken staircase, he headed for the hanger and boarded his ship, passing through the airlock and sitting down in the pilot's seat as the computer activated.

The computer spoke, "The main silo of the Reactor Core has gone offline. That's why all elevators and station systems are down. Hatches and certain rooms won't work either. This doesn't bode well…" The console then displayed the Main Deck map and placed a 'TARGET' marker over an unmapped region, the computer saying, "If you can get to this point, you may be able to start the auxiliary power system. Then we can figure out why the main silo went offline…"

Sonic stood up, "Doesn't sound like a problem to me. But what did you call me back to the ship for in the first place?"

The computer replied, "Ah, yes. I asked you to return here to tell you…" A small window popped up, showing the ship's hold, which was currently occupied by some familiar creatures. The computer continued, "Some strange creatures boarded your ship earlier. I confirmed that they were not X hosts and gave them a berth. Do you know anything about these strange creatures?"

Sonic answered, "I don't know much about them personally, but they were kept safe on the Habitation Deck for a while. I'd appreciate it if you'd let them stay here, calculator."

The computer spoke, "Very well, then. Their presence in the midst of this disaster must have some significance…" The screen then disappeared and the door leading out opened. As he left, Sonic couldn't help but feel a bit of dislike for the computer, since it seemed to him that it couldn't care less about the Etecoons and Dachoras.

Finding a small section of wall made of Bendezium in the Docking Bay shaft, Sonic used a Power Bomb to break it apart and walked through the passage, heading for the Central Reactor Core. Arriving there, he immediately found the problem: hundreds of overgrown vines were coiled around the main silo, as well as the rest of the core, effectively choking the power. Going through a door without a hatch on the opposite side of the room, he found a maze of girders and walkways that seemed to lead around to the target location.

After working his way around for several minutes, breaking weak sections of the floor and dealing with X that had taken on the form of Black Arms soldiers, Sonic destroyed an eyeball guard and ran into the adjacent room. Unfortunately, he wasn't watching where he was going and fell down into a large room below the hatch. He made a soft landing due to his suit absorbing the landing impact and looked around, trying to figure out how to get out of the room.

Suddenly, the room shook for a moment, causing Sonic to look straight up. His eyes widened as three fireballs came down from the ceiling, one right above him while the other two were on the sides of the first one. After diving out of the way of the projectiles, Sonic looked back up to see a large spider-like creature crawling along the walls of the room. It crawled along the wall for a moment before it leapt off the wall, trying to grab Sonic with its front legs. Sonic curled up into a Morph Ball and rolled out of the way as the creature hit the ground and jumped back onto the wall after failing to grab Sonic.

The spider's body seemed resistant to Sonic's attacks, but whenever it launched more fireballs, it had to open its mouth for a moment. Remembering the fight with the large pogo-like monster in Sector 2, Sonic would take advantage of these moments to fire a missile into its jaw. The battle continued this way for several minutes, the spider catching Sonic once, but its legs soon broke off after its body turned purple. It wasn't defeated, however, as it somehow was able to continuously leap above Sonic and try to drop projectiles on him. This forced it to leave its mouth open at all times, allowing Sonic to hit it with missiles continuously. It was soon destroyed, as well as the gold Core-X within, which gave Sonic the Space Jump Boots.

Using the new jets that the boots gave him, Sonic flew to the top of the room, where there was a passage leading to the Auxiliary Power Station. Sonic proceeded to activate the auxiliary power and then moved into the neighboring Navigation Room, which had been reactivated, to contact his ship. The computer spoke, "Computer Rooms and Recharge Rooms are now back online, but with only auxiliary power, no elevators or hatches will work. Without the main silo online, we're still stuck. I believe the source of the problem is the vegetation you saw earlier. You'll have to find the source of those roots to proceed." With that, the link was cut.

Returning to the Central Reactor Core, Sonic sighed to himself as he looked at all the vines around the room. He thought to himself, "_Find the source to proceed, huh? These vines probably came from Sector 2, considering there were some smaller vines when I first went there. But is there any way to get there aside from the elevator?_" Using the Space Jump Boots to get a closer look at the vines, Sonic found that, no matter where they went in the room, they all seemed to be coming from one place. Tracing one of the roots carefully, he found that the vines were massed around part of the wall. A few good charged blaster shots separated the beginnings from the ends, revealing a Morph Ball-sized hole. He rolled into the passage, using Power Bombs to clean up the remains of the vines.

Coming out of the Morph Ball after rolling for a minute, Sonic began to feel that unpleasant sensation come back. Hearing footsteps below, Sonic glanced through a crack in the floor to try to see what it was. His feet put a little too much pressure on the area around the crack, however, causing it to open up and he fell to the ground below. He looked up after landing to see a blue blur slam him into the wall! The STH-X continued to push against him; the wall behind Sonic was holding firm, but he was able to move his left arm and fire an Ice Missile at it. It froze in mid-spin, so Sonic kicked it away and dropped to the floor, taking a moment to recover as the Spin Dash did a little more damage than he first thought.

He didn't get long to rest, however, as the STH-X began to vibrate the molecules around it, causing the ice to crack. Freed of its icy covering, it leapt into the air, pulling the Ice Beam off of its back and firing several shots down at Sonic. The hedgehog quickly dashed away from the spot it was shooting at and reached the STH-X as it was landing, throwing his fist into its face. Although it reeled from the force of the punch, it seemed as though the copy felt no pain, as it almost immediately tried to attack with a kick. Sonic countered with a break-dance spin, one foot catching the STH-X's while the other hit it across the face. Realizing it was almost completely unfazed by his hits, Sonic fired an Ice Missile at it when it came running at full speed towards him, freezing it and giving him time to dash through the nearby door.

After unfreezing, the STH-X immediately took off after Sonic, who knew he needed something more powerful to defeat it and was trying to get away. It chased him through two hallways, the first being blocked by a destroyable wall while the second had shutters on top of two vine masses. In the room afterwards, Sonic hid behind a large wall, the STH-X walking in seconds after he hid and looking around for a moment. Amazingly, it seemed that the STH-X believed he had escaped, as it soon turned around and left the room. "_That thing may be tough, but man, what an idiot! Even Knuckles is smarter than that!_" Sonic thought to himself. He then came out from behind the wall and began to explore Sector 2 once again.

**Prison Island**

Card Passer growled as he watched the events unfold on the screen, "This is getting ridiculous! At the rate Sonic is going, he'll be back up to full strength in no time! Why is the Organizer still going through with Dr. Kai's plan?"

Hector Dragg rested his chin on his hands, which were resting on the desk, and said, "I'm having my doubts about this as well. Sure, the doc has been doing some secret work aboard that station with those cells we took from a research team, but is that worth not bringing an end to Sonic now?"

As he leaned back, Howard Watcher growled, "Dr. Kai had better salvage whatever he's hoping for from this crisis fast. I just got word that O.T.I.S. has been purged of my little surprise, which means the military may be onto us now. We'll have to be prepared in case they try to stop justice from being served."

Jerome Wise piped up, "Well, we still have that helicopter that we can use to escape the island. And there's still the underwater-"

Card Passer yelled, "Shut up, Wise! You don't have to tell us what we already know!" At that, Jerome sat back in his seat and turned his attention back to the screen.

**SRL Station, Sector 2**

Sonic's search for the source of the vegetation didn't take long, as the doors without hatches seemed to be bringing him closer to where the roots began. He discovered a hidden passage above a hallway that had lots of roots growing out of the floor and used the Space Jump Boots to go up. Seeing a mass of tangled roots in front of him, he used a Power Bomb to clear them out, as well as two Ki-Hunters that were tangled up in them.

Getting past another eyeball guard, Sonic dropped down into a room that was no doubt the source of the vegetation. There were vines covering the walls of the room, but what really stood out was a large root that seemed to be intertwined with them. He didn't notice that some kind of pollen was drifting down from the two flowers on the vines above him. He was hit by one of the clumps and knocked into a flower on the side of the platform he was on. Although it began to sap his suit's energy, he stayed calm and made one big jump, breaking out of its hold.

Jumping back up onto a platform closer to the odd root, Sonic began to alternate between shooting missiles at it and stopping the pollen that was drifting down from the flowers. Eventually, the 'head' of the root broke off, as did the flowers, and it began to fire green plasma shots at him. Ducking and jumping over these, he continued to assault the root, its color changing from yellow to purple and then to red as he attacked.

Eventually, its form broke and it turned into a Core-X with an eye. Just like with the Core-X in Sector 3, Sonic waited to attack until it opened its eye and then dodged the resulting shot. It didn't take long for its hard shell to break and release the gelatinous prize within, the X giving him a Plasma Beam function! After giving it a few test shots, Sonic grinned, "This thing is pretty strong! I'll definitely be able to take out that faker next time I see him!" With that, he left the room as all the plants within it began to wilt.

It didn't take Sonic long to work his way back up to the mapped areas of Sector 2, and he headed straight for the Navigation Room to find out what to do next. After establishing a link with his ship's computer, it spoke, "I see you've received a Plasma Beam upgrade. Most unexpected. Still, you lack a few essential, natural abilities, and the STH-X may be getting stronger as well."

Sonic could not deny that he was still missing a few abilities, but he knew something was up since the computer could always tell when he received an unexpected upgrade. He demanded, "All right, fess up, pal! How do you know when I get stronger? Are you or someone from a certain shady organization watching me?"

Silence ruled the Navigation Room for a minute until something beeped on the screen and the computer said, "Ah… More trouble. Hold on." After another minute of silence, it continued, "I've isolated the cause. There's been an explosion in the ARC Data Room… Sonic, go to Sector 5. The damage is spreading."

Thoroughly convinced that he was being watched, Sonic glared at the computer's eye as it disappeared before heading for the elevator. He quickly made his way through the access shaft and rode the elevator down to Sector 5. Stopping at the Navigation Room, he once again contacted his ship. The computer soon spoke, "It's gotten much worse. The damage seems to have been caused by a creature kept here by the researchers, who named it… the Nightmare."

Sonic commented, "Cute name. What does it do, make people freeze in their tracks and cause them to live their worst nightmares?"

The computer answered, "Apparently, it was a bio-mechanical organism designed for military applications… It possesses uncommon power and can manipulate gravity."

Sonic groaned, "Ugh, it seems like the only thing man has ever worked on in the last fifty years that was made to bring hope and peace is Shadow…"

The computer continued, "We must assume that it has recently become an X-host. We have no choice. You must find it and defeat it. I can't confirm its location; it's out of control. Hurry before it destroys the entire station…"

**Mystic Ruins, Tails' Workshop**

Atop the plateau at the back of the workshop, two large doors began to open in the ground. After several minutes, they finished opening and a large starship that was mostly white, as well as blue and yellow in some places, rose out of the hanger below the doors. It had a yellow nose, a runway with palm trees lining it, and three engines in the back. The impressive Blue Typhoon hovered for a minute as its crew went through one final check-up.

Tails sat in the captain's seat while Chuck and Chris were in the seats to his right and Amy, Cream, and Cheese were in the seats to his left. After he and the others had thoroughly checked all of the systems, Chuck turned to Tails and said, "Looks like all systems are go, Tails! And I must say, this Blue Typhoon of yours is really impressive! I still can't believe you built this all by yourself!"

Tails smiled, "Thanks, Chuck." He then clicked a button on his panel to open up a communication channel with the Emerald Chamber. He spoke, "Knuckles, how's the Master Emerald holding up?"

Knuckles looked over his control panel and out the window to look at the emerald. After a moment, he spoke, "So far, so good, Tails. The engines are receiving power, so we're ready to leave whenever."

Tails nodded and closed the communication channel, turning his attention back to the controls. He said, "All right, we're heading out now! Chris, have the coordinates for the Alimbic Cluster been entered into the system?"

Chris nodded, "Roger! As soon as we're in space, we can use the Warp Field Driver to get there in no time."

Tails said, "Then let's go!" With that, the engines of the Blue Typhoon roared to life, the ship angling up as it began to move. With the aid of the energy supplied by the Master Emerald, the Blue Typhoon soon left Earth's atmosphere and began moving in the direction of the Tetra Galaxy. Once they were a good distance away from Earth, a pink ring materialized around the nose and was fired straight ahead, stopping a distance away and growing. As the Blue Typhoon passed through the ring, it took on the appearance of an aurora as the ring closed and the ship went to light speed.

Unbeknownst to the crew of the Blue Typhoon, a familiar, large, organic-looking battleship had been watching them and, now that they were gone, began to move towards the Earth…

* * *

I altered the Space Jump here because if Sonic were to spin constantly, he wouldn't need a Screw Attack. Plus, the way it's used is similar to the way Mecha Sonic flies.


	16. Facing a Hedgehog's Fear

**Planet Alinos, Alinos Perch**

"I AM BORED. THERE IS NOTHING TO SHOOT HERE," Omega muttered.

"Yes, I am well aware of that, Omega. Just be patient," Shadow replied. The black hedgehog stood atop one of the stone formations while Omega was walking on the ground below him. His red eyes were constantly scanning the skies, looking for any sign of Rouge returning since her communicator had been broken during the scuffle with the Drakon Prosecutor. Remembering the fish, he looked down at Omega and asked, "How's our prisoner doing?"

Omega replied, "IT CONTINUES TO FLOP INSIDE OF MY CHEST. IT IS A VERY ANNOYING MEATBAG. I WOULD READILY SHOOT IT IF WE DID NOT NEED TO BRING IT BACK TO EARTH."

Shadow nodded and turned back to the sky. Not long afterwards, he caught sight of Rouge's form coming down towards them. Once she was close enough, he asked, "Did you find the transport?"

Rouge huffed, "Well, wasn't that a charming hello. Have you considered taking a class on people skills?" At Shadow's look, she stopped her teasing and said, "I found the transport right where Omega said it was, but it looks like it was hit by a lava bomb or something. There's barely anything salvageable in that wreck. Though it did look like there was some sort of hologram projector in the pilot's seat."

Shadow growled, "So it was a set-up all along..."

Rouge nodded, "Looks that way. But this seems way too low-class to be something Eggman would want to do. So who else would want to get you out of the way?"

Shadow shook his head, "It doesn't matter now. We'll find out once we get off of this planet and back to Earth. Let's see if we can figure how to work that Prosecutor's ship." With that, the members of Team Dark boarded the ship and, after a few minutes of looking over the alien controls, got the cockpit to close and the engines began to hum soon afterwards.

**Meanwhile, the SRL Station, Sector 5 foyer**

Sonic looked around the room in shock; the entire foyer looked like it had been hit by a cyclone. Broken glass from what was likely the Nightmare's containment area littered the floor, steel beams had been bent and torn, some of them balanced or littering the upper areas of the foyer, and long cracks were running across the parts of the glass that hadn't been broken yet. It's clear that the researchers didn't just name it 'Nightmare' for effect; its power was real.

Running past where one of the beams used to be positioned and through a destroyed hatch, Sonic found that the low temperature areas had been destroyed too. There was no trace of ice or snow anywhere in the room, and water from the refrigeration units occasionally dripped down from the ceiling. "Geez... With as much damage as this thing has caused, it's gonna be hard to trace its trail. And judging from the look of this place, there's probably not going to be much worth salvaging when this is all over," Sonic muttered to himself as he made his way past what used to be a Level 4 hatch.

He quickly passed through the remains of the Data Room, the uplink console totally destroyed. With the lower hatch destroyed, he took the high road and hurried through the hallways past the hatch. Arriving at what appeared to be a dead end, Sonic saw that the floor below him was weak and fired a few shots at it, making a hole. Moving over to it, he took a look down and immediately jumped back. Water! And lots of it, no doubt due to all of the refrigeration units being destroyed.

"_Ugh... I don't care if I can go underwater without a problem. I'm not going down there! ...*sigh* But it doesn't look I have a choice in the matter,_" Sonic thought to himself. After another minute of mental debate, Sonic forced himself to jump down the hole and into the water. As he sank down, he noticed several Skultera patrolling the water and a Black Warrior sitting at the bottom. He quickly disposed of the Skultera, though one of the X avoided his grasp and combined with the Black Warrior, turning it into a more amphibious version of itself! Although its ramming attack and ability to fire laser shots caught Sonic by surprise, he was able to defeat it

Continuing further, he found a part of the sector that was not yet submerged and continued onward. After exploring several rooms, Sonic found an eyeball guard on a working hatch, which told him that he was close to the Nightmare. Taking it out with an Ice Missile, Sonic went into the room beyond, which turned out to be very small. Rolling into a Morph Ball, he squeezed into a tight space, but didn't get very far when the floor suddenly gave way beneath him.

He soon fell into the room right below him, landing softly on his feet after a minute. He then glanced around the room for a moment, thinking of one word to describe it: junkyard. One side of the room, roughly half of it, contained a huge pile of scraps of metal, machinery, and what appeared to be long, large strips of cable. Although aside from the pile of junk, there didn't appear to be anything or anyone in the room.

That quickly changed, though, as the room started shaking and something that appeared to be similar to a ghost began rising out of the floor, seeming to be wailing all the while. And once its body was fully in the room, it materialized, revealing itself to be the Nightmare.

Almost as it soon as it formed, the misshaped creature began to hover around and fire lasers from its arms. Sonic used the Space Jump Boots to get over these shots, the Nightmare following him up but keeping its distance. As he dropped down, Sonic noticed a red flashing spot on its lower body. After landing, he ran underneath it and fired two missiles straight up, hitting the engine and causing the creature to let out a type of shout. Sonic repeated the process of going up and getting under it, scoring a few more hits, but then it seemed like he made it mad.

All of a sudden, the engine began to rotate quickly and the whole room seemed to ripple. When Sonic tried to move, his arms and legs felt much heavier and he could no longer ignite his Space Jump Boots. He saw the beast rise up high enough and shot an Ice Missile at it, only to watch it fall back to the ground slowly and explode. "Man, gravity can be a real drag, especially when this thing is messing with it," Sonic muttered to himself.

Sonic decided to switch to the Plasma Beam, charging it and firing three shots at the engine while jumping as best he could over the Nightmare's shots. Each hit caused the engine to work faster, possibly to compensate for the damage he was causing it, and green slime began to ooze out of the eyeholes on Nightmare's mask like tears. "_Ew... There's something nasty under that mask, I can already tell,_" Sonic thought to himself as he leapt over another pair of shots fired from the beast's arms.

After several minutes that felt like hours with the water-like gravity in effect, the engine stopped flashing red and the ripples in the room began to vanish. In a second, Sonic felt himself go back to normal weight and leapt onto the nearby ladder on the wall, turning to look at Nightmare. It floated in place for a moment before it gave off what sounded like an angry roar as its mask broke, revealing its true face. "Well, I was right about what was under there, but I didn't expect it to be that gross..." Sonic muttered to himself.

As the slime from earlier suggested, Nightmare's true face was made of green slime that continued to drip down onto the floor. It had six red-orange eyes, all of them appearing to be rolled back in its head, and it looked like it was struggling to keep its face in place. After looking at him for a moment, Nightmare began to gravitate towards Sonic, firing all of its lasers at him. Sonic used the ladder to move out of the way and began firing Ice Missiles at its face, hurting it further. This also made it look even more disgusting, as its face looked like it was going to fall off the more damage it took.

After dodging Nightmare's lasers and charging attacks for a couple of minutes, Sonic eventually dealt the death blow, as Nightmare floated in place for a second before its arms were blown off and it gave off one last wail before reverting to its Core-X form. Sonic quickly broke through its hard shell as he normally did, exposing the insides. After grabbing it in his hand and absorbing it, Sonic received a message about receiving a Gravity Suit effect.

After landing, his suit gave off a bright flash as its appearance changed, similar to when he received the Varia Suit. His suit was now mostly blue colored and had two spikes on the back, a long one on the back of his helmet and a shorter one on his back. There were spots of green on it as well, such as the stripes on his shoes and a 'V' shape on his chest. His visor was also green, and he now appeared to have his regular white gloves on.

Leaving the Nightmare's lair, Sonic got a chance to put the Gravity Suit to the test, as a wall that was partially submerged could only be broken by dashing through it. The suit worked as he was told it would, as when he stepped in the water, it felt like he was still on dry land and he soon broke through the wall. He attempted to head back the way he came to return to the Navigation Room, only to find that a large piece of wreckage had fallen down the shaft and was now blocking the hatch. With no other available options, Sonic used the Gravity Suit and Speed Booster to get past a pair of weak walls behind a hatch he had checked earlier.

The path he found beyond the walls led deep into the aquatic areas of Sector 4. This appeared to be the actual living area for specimens, as Sonic could see coral growing and smaller aquatic creatures swimming around. Searching for the exit, he found his path blocked by a Level 4 security hatch along one path, so he turned back and went to check the alternate route. Working his way through several hidden areas, Sonic soon ended up falling into the Security Room for releasing the Level 4 locks.

Although he knew he had not been told to release the locks, Sonic could see no other way of getting out of the sector if he didn't, so he stepped on the platform and had the computer release the locks. He then headed back towards the hatch he had seen earlier, heading in the general direction of the Navigation Room.

**Meanwhile, at the edge of the Alimbic Cluster**

An aurora-colored beam of light appeared, followed by the Blue Typhoon materializing out of the beam. The position of the ship gave it a full view of all the planets and stations in the Alimbic Cluster.

On the Blue Typhoon's bridge, the crew, including Topaz and Knuckles, looked out at all of the planets silently for a moment. Eventually, Amy broke the silence, "Is this really the Alimbic Cluster? There doesn't appear to be much here..."

Tails said, "Well, this is just one cluster of the Tetra Galaxy, Amy. What we're seeing is probably only a fraction of what's in this particular galaxy."

Chuck spoke, "That's correct, Tails. Typically, star clusters may appear big, but can be small compared to the rest of a galaxy." He then turned to look at Topaz and asked, "Topaz, do you know which of these planets is Alinos?"

Topaz nodded, "Yes. Alinos is that large, red planet in the distance. According to the records the military has, Alinos was once a beautiful planet until the planet's core exploded. Since then, it has fallen into disrepair. There's no telling what inhabits its surface now."

Knuckles said, "Well, we'd better get moving then. The sooner we get there and find Shadow, the sooner we can get those S.O.N.I.C.X. guys!"

Cream asked, "Knuckles, aren't you worried about Rouge too?"

Knuckles crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he said, "That thieving bat? I'm more worried about what she could do to anything she runs into than what they could do to her."

Tails spoke, "Then let's get moving! I'm setting our course for Planet Alinos!" He pushed his two control panels forward as he spoke, the Blue Typhoon's engines roaring to life as it began to make its way towards the ultra-high temperature planet.

**Later, Back on Earth, Prison Island, Dr. Kai's workroom**

Dr. Kai was seated at the table, looking over something on his computer. From the look of the screen, it seemed to be some kind of Missile upgrade. "Ah, the Diffusion Missile effect... I'm sure that would be nice to have with your Ice Missiles, Sonic. Too bad you won't be getting it. Even if I can control your suit through my computer, I don't want you getting too powerful."

Before he could press any key on his computer, the voice of Li Yan came from the other side of the door, "Dr. Kai! The Organizer demands an update on your plan! Get in here!" Dr. Kai was so startled that, in his shock, one of his fingers pressed the 'Enter' key, which was set on the 'Send' command. Thinking nothing of what key he pressed, Dr. Kai stood up, removed and wiped off his glasses, and left his workroom, oblivious to the fact that the computer was sending the upgrade to the SRL Station.

Both Dr. Kai and Li Yan took their seats with the other members, turning their attention to the view screen, which displayed the silhouette of the Organizer instead of the view from Sonic's helmet. The shades-wearing man spoke, "Dr. Kai, I have been patient up until now. I agreed to your plan of giving Sonic the prototype suit so he could go to the SRL Station, I didn't voice my concern to you supplying him updates so you could collect information on these X parasites, but now it appears your plan is getting out of hand. Sonic is almost completely back to full strength now, maybe even getting stronger thanks to everything you've given him! Explain yourself!"

Dr. Kai adjusted his glasses before saying, "There is no reason to worry. The link I have established with the station and the camera in Sonic's suit gives me control over both. If Sonic starts getting out of hand, I can force his suit to lock up or I can lock down the station to keep him from moving around. I don't want him getting too powerful either, but to fully understand the X, some things must be allowed."

The Organizer was silent for a moment before saying, "Very well. I'll trust your judgment for now, but I hope you have a backup plan in case things get any more out of hand. With Warden Watcher's failed attempt to destroy Sonic's friends with the military defense system and them leaving the planet all of a sudden, there's no telling what will happen next." With that, the screen went black as the Organizer cut the transmission.

Seeing the black screen, Commander Passer spoke up, "Dr. Kai, go get the feed back up so we can see what Sonic is doing now!"

Dr. Kai stood up and headed for the door, muttering, "So impatient... I was just about to go do that anyway." When he got to his workroom and seated himself at the table, he noticed it had a message saying 'Transfer Complete.' Confused, he looked at what had been transferred, his eyes opening wide as he realized that it had sent the Diffusion Missile data to the station. He frantically close the message and began to connect with the camera in Sonic's helmet while streaming it to the other members at the same time.

**SRL Station, Sector 4 Data Room**

Sonic stepped into the room, having little luck getting past the Powamp-X that inflated and blocked off the small access paths whenever he approached them. Looking at the uplink console, he saw that there was support data waiting to be downloaded. Not one to turn down an invitation, he quickly hooked himself up to the console and downloaded the data.

Leaving the Data Room, Sonic put the new Diffusion Missile upgrade to the test, firing an Ice Missile that spread the ice blast around and froze the Powamp-X guarding the passages. Taking the chance, Sonic rolled through the tight passage in Morph Ball form and made a beeline for the Sector 4 Navigation Room. Upon arrival, he contacted his ship's computer, which spoke, "You upgraded your missiles? That's unusual... There was no word from HQ. A procedural error, I'm sure..." As he listened, Sonic couldn't help but notice that the computer sounded nervous about something.

After a moment, it continued, "Even so, I did not approve of bypassing security level 4. From now on you will use more discretion." Sonic silently huffed to himself as he rolled his eyes; if he had been discrete, he would still be wandering around Sector 4's watery depths. After a minute, the computer spoke again, "In any case... Sonic, do you remember the Security Robot you faced back in Sector 3? I believe the X have infected it." Before Sonic could ask how they did that, the computer explained, "That is to say, they have claimed the organic components that form its neural network. It has entered Sector 6 (NOC). I don't know what it's planning, but let's not wait to find out. You know what to do, Sonic. To Sector 6, quickly."

Once the screen went back to green static and the hatch opened, Sonic hurried to the elevator, riding it up to the access shaft. As he waited, he began to think about who the computer reminded him of...

* * *

The Gravity Suit here has the same appearance as the space suit Sonic wore in Sonic the Hedgehog #128 "Tossed in Space Part 5: E.V.E. ILL." The one he actually wears during the issue, not the one on the cover, which is what the Varia Suit looks like.

Since this story is so close to the end, I'm going to focus on finishing Sonic Fusion before I get back to my main writing project. Here's sort of a heads-up for the following chapters, at least for Sonic:

17 - Sector 6 and ?  
18 - Sector 1 and ?  
19 - ?  
20 - Epilogue


	17. Discoveries

**Dr. Eggman's island fortress**

While Dr. Eggman, Espio, and Vector were preparing an invasion plan for the S.O.N.I.C.X.'s base on Prison Island, Decoe and Bocoe had their hands full trying to keep both Bokkun and Charmy in line. Bokkun kept trying to raid Eggman's sweets storage like he usually did while Charmy was just flying down every hall he came across, having a little too much fun.

"Come on! Let go of me! All I want is one little taste, Bocoe!" Bokkun wailed as he struggled to get out of the robot's grip.

"Absolutely not! Once you get one little taste, you always want more, Bokkun! And we've already had enough of your sugar highs, between the time you became The Cape and when you pretended you were Dr. Eggman! That's far too many times for any of us!" Bocoe replied as he forced Bokkun to the ground and did his best to restrain him.

In another part of the fortress, Decoe was chasing a giggling Charmy down a hall, who thought they were playing 'Tag.' Charmy giggled, "You're not fast enough, Decoe! You'll have to do better than that if you wanna catch me!"

Decoe growled back, "I'm in no mood to play with you now, you annoying bee! And even if I were, this is hardly the time to be playing around! Or have you completely forgotten why you came here in the first place?"

Charmy just stuck his tongue at Decoe and said, "Oh please! Espio and Vector said they have it covered and that I can do what I want until they're all ready! Besides, you're just mad because you're so slow! That's why you're being such a sourpuss!" A vein grew on Decoe's head at Charmy's words and he started chasing after the bee again, determined to catch him this time.

In Dr. Eggman's control room, meanwhile, he, Vector, and Espio were using one of the E-11 Beacon robots from Eggman's arsenal to collect and transmit data on Prison Island back to them. According to Beacon's sensors, there were no hidden traps or other forms of protection in the waters surrounding the island, and the same could be said about the island itself. There were no defenses hidden beneath the scorched ground or in the remains of the prison complex. It seemed as though the members of S.O.N.I.C.X. weren't preparing anything for a rainy day.

"Ha! What, are these losers keeping their island defenseless so they can order pizza? I thought they'd at least have a trap or two laid outside their front door, but this is pointless! I don't see why Tails asked for my help in the first place!" Eggman exclaimed.

"He asked for your help because the work of these weirdoes concerns you too, Eggman. There must be something your robot can gather that we can take advantage of when we infiltrate Prison Island," Espio said.

Vector, looking out from behind Eggman's chair, focused on the computer screen for a moment before saying, "Hey doc! It seems like your bird is picking up on some kind of waves coming from the remains of the prison complex, Any idea what they are?"

Eggman looked at the screen a moment, soon seeing what Vector was getting at, before replying, "Those are radio waves! It would appear Beacon is picking up on some type of transmission those fools are sending."

Espio asked, "Any idea where they're going to? They could be contacting this mysterious Organizer that Sonic mentioned before."

Eggman typed on the keyboard for a few moments before stopping and looking at the screen. It seemed he had told the computer to try to home in on the receiving point of the waves. After a few minutes, he spoke, "It seems to be going to two receiving points. One of them is here on Earth, but the other is on some kind of space station near an... SR388?"

Espio spoke, "SR388? That must be the station that Sonic is on right now. But what could be on that station that's so important that they'd send him in and want to talk to him?"

Vector asked, "Say Eggman, is there any way to interrupt the signal now that you know the source and receiving points? It might be possible to contact Sonic."

Dr. Eggman grinned, "Who do you think I am? Why, I daresay I can explain how to do so in such a way that even a simpleton can understand it! So listen up, because telling you two what to do is my last contribution to this little attack of yours. Afterwards, everything rides on whatever Tails is planning."

**The skies of Planet Alinos**

Lasers flashed across the cloud-filled sky, every Drakon ship on the planet chasing after the ship that Team Dark had commandeered. Shadow was at the pilot's seat, doing his best to avoid the shots, but compared to the Air Saucers and other gadgets that were employed by the Black Arms, knowledge of piloting a Drakon vehicle was not second nature to him. Even if he wanted to turn around and fight the other ships, he was not confidant enough in his vehicle skills to attempt it.

"LET ME OUT. I WILL STOP THEM. FOR I AM OMEGA, THE ULTIMATE E-SERIES ROBOT," Omega said.

"Omega, cut it out! This is hardly the time or place to be making statements like that!" Rouge yelled.

"Will both of you shut up already! I need to concentrate here!" Shadow growled. As if on cue, a laser shot scratched along the side of the ship, sending it spiraling for a moment before Shadow got it under control again. Shadow growled as he wrestled with the controls, doing whatever he could to avoid the shots.

Suddenly, in the midst of the dodging, a yellow laser was fired between Team Dark's ship and the pursuing ships. The shot forced the Drakon ships to scatter to avoid being destroyed, giving Team Dark the opportunity to slip above the clouds while the Drakons regrouped. Wondering who fired the shot, Shadow continued flying above the clouds and soon found his answer. The Blue Typhoon was holding position in a slightly clear section of the cloud cover, its laser cannon angled down towards the ground, charging up another shot. Looking closer, Shadow spotted a familiar two-tailed fox in the captain's seat and said, "Omega, see if you can contact that ship! It seems that reinforcements have arrived."

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Blue Typhoon, Tails and the others were still trying to figure out what the conflict was about. Having just entered Alinos' atmosphere, the ship sensors were quick to point out what was going on and the view screens showed that a lone ship was being attacked by others of its kind. Not sure who to support, Tails had Cream set up the laser and fire it between the two, choosing to avoid deliberately attacking anyone until they found who was who.

Although they were charging up the laser for another shot, the crew of the Blue Typhoon were contemplating their next move, as the lone ship had managed to escape and was now heading towards them. While they were debating among themselves, they suddenly received a message saying 'Incoming Transmission.' Curious, Tails answered it and everyone saw Omega's face appear on the main screen. Tails exclaimed, "Omega? Is that you on that ship?"

Before the robot could answer, Shadow's voice spoke up, "That's right, Tails. We're heading for your runway now, but it seems our pursuers aren't ready to give up just yet. See if you can provide us some cover, but be ready to disengage once we're onboard."

Tails nodded, "Got it!" He then turned to Chris and said, "Chris, keep the laser charged and see if you can lock onto those ships!" Chris nodded and began to punch commands into his keyboard while Tails turned to Amy and said, "Amy, prep the missiles and be ready to fire on my signal!"

As Team Dark's ship came in for a landing, the other Drakon ships emerged from the clouds, heading for the Blue Typhoon. At both Chris and Amy's confirmations that they were ready, Tails gave the order to attack. The laser was fired first, sending a beam towards the ships that forced them to scatter again, which was followed up by firing several missiles towards them. Although none of them hit their targets, it was enough of a distraction for Tails to turn the Blue Typhoon around and leave Alinos' atmosphere. By the time the ships were back together again, the Blue Typhoon was significantly far away from Alinos, heading for the edge of the Alimbic Cluster.

As the Warp Field Driver was warming up, Team Dark came up to the bridge. As they arrived, Topaz came over and said, "Rouge! You had us worried. But you, Shadow, and Omega are okay, right?"

Rouge brushed her hand in the air and said, "Don't worry your pretty little head, Topaz. We're fine, thanks to your perfect timing."

Tails got out of his seat and came over, along with Knuckles, Chris, and Chuck, and said, "Once the Warp Field Driver is ready, those other ships won't be able to follow us. Who were they, anyway?"

Shadow spoke, "Before we go into that..." He reached up to Omega's chest compartment, opened it, and yanked out the Drakon Prosecutor, holding it by its tail. As Tails and the others looked at it in surprise, Shadow asked, "Does anyone have a bucket or a bathtub I can keep this in?"

Tails, after looking at the Drakon for a moment, replied, "Uh, yeah. Just go back out the door, hang a left, and then the bathroom is the third door on the right." Shadow nodded and proceeded out, the Drakon yelling threats the whole time.

After Shadow found the bathroom, filled the bathtub up with water, and left the Drakon in the room with the door locked from the outside, he returned to the bridge, coming in as Rouge was explaining what transpired during their 'mission.' When she finished, Tails nodded in thought, "It's all coming together now. The S.O.N.I.C.X. has been behind all of this. This confirms that it's all one massive plot, but we still don't know what they're after..."

Shadow growled, "As soon as we get back to Earth, I'm going to be sure to break up that group permanently!"

Knuckles spoke, "We were already planning to do that, Shadow. After we got Dr. Eggman to agree to work with us for a little while, we alerted the rest of the military about our plan to launch an assault on their base on Prison Island. By the end of the day, the Society for Observing and Neutralizing Interdimensional Creatures and Xenomorphs will be no more!"

Chuck called, "The Warp Field Driver is warmed up and all the coordinates are set, Tails! We're ready to go!"

Tails nodded, "All right, let's get going then!" With that, the Warp Field Driver was fired, releasing a pink ring that expanded after putting some space between it and the Blue Typhoon. The ship flew into the ring, taking on an aurora coloration as the ring closed and it began to move at light speed.

**Meanwhile, the SRL Station, entrance to Sector 6**

Sonic stepped into the Navigation Room and contacted his ship's computer, looking over the map of the sector while the connection went through. The familiar eye soon appeared on the screen and the computer spoke, "The Security Robot seems to have gotten much stronger. This worries me. Be careful. But we have another problem."

Sonic sighed as he rubbed his head, "What is it?"

The computer answered, "Once you're done, leave NOC immediately. The STH-X is tracking you. Don't stay longer than you must. Understood?" Sonic gave a simple nod and left the room after the transmission was cut. He quickly made his way through the following three rooms, moving into the nighttime habitat.

Unlike the other sectors he'd revisited so far, Sector 6 seemed relatively unchanged. Same creatures that the X took on the shape of, same blue X trying to run from him, same level of darkness. But there were areas he hadn't been to yet, and one was nearby. After making it through the first dark room and the natural hallway afterwards, Sonic dropped down the to the second hatch in the following shaft. Checking the room past it, he found a bunch of blue X and a wall made entirely of Bendezium. Using a Power Bomb, Sonic broke through it and began to explore the uncharted portion of the sector.

Moving past the hatch at the end of the hallway and going down the short shaft, Sonic went down a hole that led to a small pool of water. Seeing nothing of interest there, he went through the nearby hatch and followed the paths past it, checking every hatch he came across. Eventually, he reached a small segment near the bottom of the sector that was metallic instead of rocky. It seemed somebody had been busy at work, as there was a shutter blocking the way. Moving to investigate it, a female computer voice spoke, "Warning. No entry without authorization."

With no way to bypass the shutter manually, Sonic headed back the way he came. As he got near one of the hatches leading back, the ceiling suddenly rumbled. Quickly hurrying back to the room with the pool, Sonic found the B.O.X. robot standing in the water. The robot was shooting off electricity, likely due to all the damage it had sustained in its first fight with Sonic and probably while trying to resist infection, sending a current through the pool. It began charging towards him when it saw him enter the room.

Using a Power Bomb, Sonic exposed a hidden row of bars along the ceiling. He leapt up and grabbed onto them as the robot rammed into the side of the pool. It stood there a moment, flailing its legs before opening a compartment on its top and firing several missiles at him. Sonic quickly took care of them with Plasma Beam shots and hoped that the way he beat it the first time would work this time as well. As he aimed Ice Missiles at its central unit, which was so broken that its brain could be seen, Sonic had to avoid its leaps, which were just high enough to hit his legs, which would be enough to make him lose his grip.

Eventually, the tried-and-true strategy won out, as the robot collapsed in the pool, being completely destroyed except for its brain, which floated up for a second before becoming a green Core-X with an eye. Sonic defeated it just like he defeated the others, waiting for the eye to open and avoiding its beam shots, which looked like they could go through solid matter. The shell was soon broken and Sonic absorbed the purple insides, receiving a new Wave Beam upgrade.

He didn't get much time to celebrate, however, as the ceiling suddenly began shaking violently and that unpleasant feeling entered his head. The STH-X had already made it to Sector 6 and it was coming after him. Knowing that going back would be dangerous, Sonic decided to head back towards the shutter that had stopped him earlier, putting his Speed Booster into high gear. His hunch proved correct, as after a few Wave Beam shots, Sonic hit the button that released the shutter and quickly rolled into the small passage past it, as the main door had been locked down.

Rolling for a few seconds, Sonic soon dropped down into the area where the normal way would've led him. According to his map data, this section of the Main Deck was called the Restricted Zone. Knowing the STH-X was after him, Sonic kept moving forward. After a run through a short hallway and a connecting tube, Sonic entered the Restricted Laboratory, where he was confronted by a real surprise.

Metroids. Lots of baby Metroids being held in glass tanks around the room. Sonic was both fascinated and horrified at this discovery. Had the military been breeding Metroids? According to Shadow's briefing, there may have been Metroids still alive somewhere on SR388, but there was nothing on Metroids being bred aboard the station. Sonic looked at one of the tanks for a minute, seeing the floating jellyfish trying to get out of their tank but otherwise seeming to ignore his presence.

Moving past the hatch on the other side of the lab, Sonic found more Metroids being contained in tanks. They were all lined up in order of evolution: Alpha, Gamma, Zeta... wait. The tank past the Zeta Metroid was empty. Recalling what Shadow had mentioned about Metroids, the Omega stage should've been next, but there was no sign of anything in the tank. "Oh geez... Please tell me that they just haven't bred one of those yet," Sonic muttered to himself, thinking about how wrong this whole thing was.

Moving up to the second floor of the lab, Sonic suddenly heard the hatch at the entrance to the lab suddenly open. Seconds afterward, he heard the telltale sound of a Spin Dash and shattering glass, followed by the red light and blaring of an alarm. The sounds of destruction continued as Sonic ran back to the first floor.

Stepping through the hatch, Sonic saw that the Metroids had been released and the STH-X was dashing around the room, using Homing Attacks and its Ice Beam to attack the Metroids. Sonic watched the scene unfold, wondering whether to get involved with this fight or not. As he watched, the female computer voice was saying, "Fire alert! This sector will soon be locked down!"

All of a sudden, when the STH-X briefly landed on the floor, it was suddenly swarmed by three Metroids, each of them latching onto it. It struggled to shake them off, but Sonic could see that it clearly had no way to get out of this situation easily. Before he could attempt to help it, the computer spoke, "60 seconds to isolation lockdown."

Sonic didn't like the sound of that, but the first floor hatch had been locked, preventing him from going back that way. Suddenly, the second floor walkway fell apart, falling onto the remains of the main tank. Sonic looked up to see an unlocked hatch at the very top and ignited his Space Jump Boots, jetting up towards the hatch. He had to watch out for the other Metroids as he jetted; they didn't try to attack him, possibly due to the Metroid vaccine, but they did interrupt his flying. He soon reached that hatch and, after taking a quick glance back down the shaft, ran through it.

Stepping into the connecting tube, Sonic looked out the glass as he felt the tube shake. The Restricted Lab had been ejected and was now hurtling through space. It didn't get far, as it suddenly self-destructed, taking the STH-X and the Metroids with it.

**Meanwhile, back on Earth, above Prison Island**

High in the sky above the remains of the prison complex was the space ship that had entered Earth's atmosphere when the Blue Typhoon left. It had not been detected by E-11 as it was currently in cloaking mode. The crew consisted of a group of human-sized black aliens. One of them walked over to the apparent leader of the group and spoke, in its alien language, "Commander, we have pinpointed the exact location of the objective and identified the weak spots in the structure. We are ready to begin any time."

The leader replied, "Excellent. We will begin the retrieval mission shortly. The information that the humans are hiding here shall prove very helpful to our conquest."


	18. The Truth Comes Out

**Prison Island, Dr. Kai Narasu's workroom**

Dr. Kai stood in the middle of the room, hands on the sides of his head as he yelled, "No no no no! This cannot be happening! That... That blasted hedgehog! He's ruined all of my research! All of my precious Metroids are no more than space dust now! It took months for my colleagues to come up with that many Metroids from the stolen samples and now they're all gone!"

He then seemed to calm down as he looked at his table, looking specifically at a rack of test tubes filled with a greenish liquid similar to the vaccine he had given Sonic. He then said, "Well, it's not a complete loss, I suppose. I still have all of the samples here, as well as all of the research data. It may take a while, but I can grow more Metroids. And I can still keep Sonic in the dark about all of this." Seeming to be satisfied after his venting, Dr. Kai sat down at his table again and began establishing a connection with the computer aboard Sonic's ship, remembering that there was a Navigation Room nearby and Sonic would have to pass through it.

**The SRL Station, Restricted Zone**

After looking out at where the Restricted Lab had exploded for several minutes, Sonic headed for the nearby hatch, knowing it was time to get some answers. Beyond the hatch was a Navigation Room, Sonic quickly stepping up to the computer and connecting to his ship. After a moment, the map of the Main Deck appeared, as well as the familiar purple eye. Before it had a chance to speak, Sonic said, "Explain this to me, microchip."

The computer, seeming to ignore Sonic's remark, said, "Sonic, you shouldn't have done that. You ignored your orders."

Sonic growled back, "You think I'm just supposed to blindly follow whatever you tell me to do? And how much longer were you going to that lab a secret from me? Don't tell me you think information like that isn't going to get out sooner or later!"

The computer replied, "Perhaps not. But you may have to pay a price for what you've done quite soon..." Sonic restrained himself, knowing better than to lose his temper now, and stood quietly to listen to what the computer had to say. It soon continued, "As you can see, the United Federation has been secretly working on a Metroid breeding program. For peaceful application only, of course. Please understand."

Sonic huffed, "Peaceful? From what I know, there's been no talk about breeding life just to make it enforce peace later. Someone's got a sick mind to produce life and then use it for something unnecessary. That goes against everything I believe in, pal."

The computer retorted, "Oh really? But perhaps you already knew of this program's existence?"

Sonic replied, "What makes you think I'd know? I've only known about Metroids for a couple of days, and that's enough to make me see that they're willful creatures. They do what they can to survive and they shouldn't be forced out of that. Until now, I never knew some human or group of humans was doing something so wrong!"

The computer, seeming to ignore Sonic's statement, continued, "Certainly, you must have had doubts when you saw Sector 1. SRX, a faithful replica of the SR388 ecosystem..."

Sonic shrugged, "Yeah, and when I was there, I was busy trying to keep it that way. What was I supposed to see while I was trying to survive and fix the atmosphere?"

The computer answered, "The ecosystem of SR388 is the only ecosystem where Metroids can evolve into higher forms. Taken out of their habitat, the only hope they have of becoming something other than bigger versions of their juvenile stage is through mutation. SRX is the perfect simulated environment for them to grow in. Ideal for raising Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, and even Omega Metroids. This research even uncovered techniques for rapid growth. Imagine... creating an Omega from a larval Metroid in days..."

Sonic rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, fascinating. Another case of using science to abuse something that has a life of its own. It's sickening."

The computer continued, "But that research is finished. The X has smelled out its natural enemy, and one of the STH-X is on its way here..."

Sonic nearly fell over at the sound of that, his suppressed anger giving way to panic as he asked, "ONE? Are you saying there is more than one STH-X?" He sincerely hoped that that was just a bad joke, that the X copy that had attacked the Restricted Lab was the only one.

His hope went unanswered, as the computer replied, "Don't be so surprised, Sonic. You know that the X reproduce by asexual division. Because of this mechanism, there are now no fewer than 10 STH-X aboard the station." Sonic felt his insides churn, having to balance himself on the keyboard to keep from falling over in shock and horror at this revelation. The hedgehog was at a complete loss for words.

He was drawn back to himself when the computer said, "Sonic, you must go. Get out. If you stay too long, the STH-X will destroy you. Stop only at a Navigation Room to uplink to me. I don't know how HQ is going to take this, but you need to report to them immediately... Now get going." With that, the connection was cut and the screen returned to green static.

Sonic made his way to the nearby elevator, hundreds of thoughts running through his head as it rose. One thought stood out among the rest, though. "_If I was taking orders from Shadow, I'm sure he would've said the same thing about what happened. Except he would've had half a mind to soften the blow. He can be rough and cold sometimes, but at least he cares about those close to him. He's not some machine obsessed with duty or some crazy scientist who messes with life. Not even half of Shadow's compassionate side could exist in that computer..._"

The elevator deposited Sonic at an unmapped part of Sector 1, far away from any of the rooms he had been to previously. Shrugging a bit, Sonic began to explore the sector once again, looking for a way back to the known areas so he could head for the sector's Navigation Room.

**Meanwhile, above Earth**

The familiar aurora-colored streams appeared amongst the stars, the Blue Typhoon appearing soon afterwards. After it had taken shape completely, it made its way towards the planet, entering the atmosphere and heading for Station Square. As the ship came within sight of the city, everyone on the bridge took notice of the Egg Walker, its legs retracted as it headed towards them. Tails set the ship to hold position as it got closer, the Egg Walker coming to a stop once it was floating above the runway.

All of a sudden, Espio, Charmy, and Vector were dropped from the machine, each of them managing to slow their fall before they hit the runway hard. Once they had landed, Dr. Eggman contacted the Blue Typhoon and said, "Here are your little friends back, fox boy! It seems Prison Island is completely unprotected, so your little attack should go off without any problems! Vector will give you the details, so now you're on your own!" With that, he turned the Egg Walker around and flew back to his island fortress, content with the idea that Sonic would owe him after this was all over.

After recovering from their sudden fall, the Chaotix made their way up to the bridge to meet with everyone. As they stepped inside, Knuckles came over to them, "Hey guys! Sorry about making you spend some time with Eggman."

Vector replied, "Nah, it's okay, Knuckles. While you were helping Shadow, Rouge, and Omega, we helped sort out all of the details of Tails' plan. From what we've found, everything can work the way he predicted it would. Also, we think we might be able to locate this Organizer guy and contact Sonic."

Amy gasped, "We can contact Sonic? How?"

Espio spoke, "One of Eggman's robots picked up radio signals being transmitted from Prison Island. One of the receiving points is here on Earth, while the other is being sent to a space station near Planet SR388."

Tails asked, "SR388? That's where the SRL Station is! But that means they've been talking to Sonic all this time?"

Vector shrugged, "Hard to tell. Given that he's out near a planet where these... X and Mochtroids or whatever they're called are located, listening to them is probably better than sitting around, waiting to be rescued."

Shadow said, "Yeah, especially when you're as impatient as he is. I can see how you can locate the Organizer, but how do you intend to contact Sonic?"

Espio explained, "Eggman explained a process that would allow us to intercept their transmissions to the station, which would not only cut off any links they have to it, but also allow us to speak with Sonic. Tails, do you think you could help us with that?"

Tails nodded, "Sure! If we're going to intercept a transmission, there's a room that's perfect for that sort of thing." He hopped out of his seat and began to leave the bridge with the Chaotix in tow. Before leaving, he stopped, turned to Chuck and asked, "Chuck, do you think you can contact Commander Tower and let him know about our plan? I should be back in a few minutes, but the sooner we get started, the better!" At Chuck's affirmation, Tails resumed walking with Espio, Charmy, and Vector following.

**SRL Station, lower area of Sector 1**

While searching around Sector 1, Sonic came across a large room that looked like a shaft. Dropping down it, Sonic found what appeared to be the dried-out, rotting corpse of an anthro hedgehog standing near one corner of the room. Moving closer to look at it, he found that it looked similar to him, though it had a few differences. As he looked at it, the eyes suddenly opened, flashing red for a moment before they closed. Sonic quickly backed up, not knowing what to expect.

All of a sudden, the corpse began to morph, becoming a huge, red, cat-like mechanical being that bore a slight resemblance to Sonic! It began to float up, its legs not seeming to be connected to its body but still floating beneath its torso. It attempted to grab Sonic with its left hand, but Sonic leapt out of the way in time and, after charging his Wave Beam, fired at it. The machine evidently didn't enjoy that, as sparks shot out of its arm as the Wave Beam passed through. Seeing that it had an effect, Sonic continued to fire charged Wave Beam shots at the robot while avoiding its left hand, eventually destroying the arm and making it fall to the floor.

As it saw its arm fall to the ground and break down to nothing, the X controlling the robot changed its strategy and began swinging its other arm in an attempt to crush Sonic under its hand. Sonic did his best to dodge the hand, as it was being swung at a fast pace, even faster than the previous hand had been with its grabs. He continued to charge the Wave Beam and fire it at the arm as he leapt around the room, and it soon fell to the ground, breaking down to nothing like the previous arm.

After the arm was gone, the center of the machine's chest began to glow as a hum filled the air. Sensing a laser, Sonic dove to the floor as the humming died down, the laser hitting the far wall and leaving a massive gap in it. Seeing that it was beginning to charge up again, Sonic charged his own beam and began to shoot its chest with charged shots, just like with the arms. The robot was clearly not as tough as it first seemed, as it only took a few fully charged shots for the rest of the robot to start exploding. Before it was completely consumed by the explosions, it gave off a loud shriek, the volume almost hurting Sonic's ears.

Once the fireworks had ended, the familiar Core-X appeared, moving towards Sonic in a last attempt to defeat him. Sonic easily dodged its charges and fired several Ice Missiles at it, soon cracking the hard shell. He then leapt at it, absorbing the X and receiving a new ability called the Sawnic Attack, which, while jumping, turned him into a spinning ball surrounded by saw blade-like spines capable of destroying just about anything they came into contact with. As it was similar to some of Sonic's other natural abilities, Sonic almost felt like he was back at full power.

Leaving the room, Sonic made his way back along the path he came and headed for a passage that had columns that couldn't be destroyed by any of his other suit's other abilities. The Sawnic Attack was enough to cut through parts of the column, allowing him to get back into the known areas of the sector. As he made his way back to the Navigation Room, he noticed shells laying on the ground in several rooms, shells left behind by a Metroid evolving to its higher forms...

Eventually, Sonic reached the Navigation Room and contacted his ship. It took a moment for the connection to go through, but the purple eye soon appeared on the screen. It then spoke, "Sonic, your work is done here. Leave the rest to the military... You should start preparing to leave..."

Sonic, not in the mood to listen to such an order, yelled, "Are you kidding me? Haven't you figured out how dangerous the X are? How fast they can reproduce?"

The computer responded, "Yes, and there is quite an interest in the X, particularly the STH-X. I am sure such a life-form would have endless potential applications."

Sonic spoke, "All right, I think it's time we both dropped the charade. I figured out some time back that you're no military-issued computerized CO. And judging from that response, there's only one person interested in researching crazy stuff that comes to mind..."

The computer was silent for a moment, then there was a click and, instead of the regular computer voice answering, the voice of Dr. Narasu replied, "So you figured it out after all, Sonic. Bravo. I'm impressed you were able to see through the act. Unfortunately for you, it's the last thing you'll ever do."

Sonic said, "Shut up, doc! So I made you lose your tenure! You're the jerk that had to go around insinuating that I was a machine! You and all the rest of those S.O.N.I.C.X. guys are just a bunch of self-centered jerks with only your own interests in mind! You were asking for someone to step in and make you realize that!"

Dr. Narasu shot back, "I don't care what you think, you annoying little mutant. You could never understand what we went through, nor would you ever be willing to hear about it. And right now, it doesn't even matter. You're trapped on a station where everything is out to kill you and I have control over all the systems. It is useless for you to resist now. You should just lie down quietly and accept death."

Sonic growled, "What are you talking about? This is crazy! No matter what you send, this station will devour it! No living thing could stand a chance here! What do you think is worth certain death?"

Dr. Narasu replied, "Why, capturing the STH-X, of course. Along with all the other X."

Sonic stared at the screen for a second before asking, "Are you serious? Do you actually think you can succeed at not only capturing it, but convincing it to work for you?"

Dr. Narasu answered, "It will certainly be difficult, but it's not impossible. And we certainly don't need your help. I knew you would try to destroy the STH-X. That's why I stopped sending you modifications for your suit. I've had a Plasma Beam modification ready for some time, but I didn't send it so I could keep researching the STH-X. Yet you still obtained it due to alternate means. I also tried to withhold the Diffusion Missile upgrade so you wouldn't grow too powerful. But I accidentally sent it and you retrieved it... Bravo, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic looked at the screen for a moment before saying, "You are a complete nut job, Dr. Narasu. It doesn't matter what you send, it's going to be overwhelmed by the X in some way. And then you're going to be the ones who doom the Earth, along with just about everything else in this universe. For a scientist, you're a real idiot! You're too blinded by your own desires to realize that the X hunger for form, knowledge, and power! They're a plague and here you are underestimating them! You won't get away with this crazy idea of yours!"

Dr. Narasu chuckled before saying, "Weren't you paying attention, hedgehog? I have complete control over that station's systems from my laptop. As long as I keep sending out radio waves, I can seal you in anywhere I want. You've scampered around long enough, and now your it's at an end! You're exactly where I want-"

The rest of the sentence was suddenly drowned out by static, only small bits being understood amidst the static. As Sonic listened carefully, a familiar voice came through, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Sonic asked, "Vector? Is that you, buddy?"

The voice on the other end replied, "Sonic! Good to hear from you! Listen, we've managed to intercept the radio waves being transmitted by the S.O.N.I.C.X., cutting off their link to that station, but there's no way of knowing how long it's gonna last! If you've got anything you absolutely need to do, you'd better get it done now, just in case they get the connection back up! We're headed for Prison Island to apprehend them, but you don't want to get caught up in the middle of something that we can't get you out of!" And with that, the link went dead.

Sonic looked at the computer console a moment, getting his thoughts together. "It's not just the space station itself. If anyone goes down to SR388, then there's still a chance that the X can escape due to them still existing on the planet..." he muttered. All of a sudden, a memory flashed through his head and he knew what he needed to do. He grinned to himself, "Heh... I think it's time to play Shadow."

* * *

The robot that Sonic faces here is based on Metal Sonic Kai, the robot faced at the end of Knuckles' Chaotix. I noticed a similarity between it and Neo Ridley, so I decided to to put in Neo Ridley's place to avoid cross-canon confusion.

Also, the Sawnic Attack is basically the same thing as the Screw Attack, just differently named. The name comes from the fan drawing game, "Sonic Beyond." One of the unique things about this game is that Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles could encounter familiar characters and receive new abilities. Metal Sonic's ability is referred to as "Metal Sonic's Sawnic." More information on the game can be found on DeviantArt.


	19. Endgame

**Prison Island, Dr. Kai Narasu's workroom**

Dr. Kai was frantically typing in commands on his computer, the screen of which was saying that his connection had been cut. Whatever Sonic's friends did to contact Sonic had not only messed with his connection to Sonic's ship, but also to Sonic's suit and the SRL Station. He had to get the link back up before Sonic messed up everything he had done so much plotting for!

All of a sudden, the doors burst open and both Howard Watcher and Card Passer stormed in, both of them wearing angry looks (even though Watcher always wore sunglasses, it was clear that he was mad too). Commander Passer shouted, "Dr. Kai, you have no idea how much I want to shoot you right here! Not only has your plan caused more harm than good for this whole situation, but now you've made sure that the military has caught on to everything we've done! Unless you get rid of that hedgehog now, you are going to die right here and now!"

Dr. Kai calmly removed his glasses and wiped them before putting them back on and saying, "Must you always come in here with such a bad attitude, Commander Passer? This isn't entirely my fault! Clearly, your efforts to get Shadow out of the way were a complete failure if the military really has gotten wind of this! And Warden Watcher's efforts to destroy Sonic's friends with the military defense system was a clear failure since the virus was removed from their system! What do you have to say to that?"

Warden Watcher yelled, "Are you accusing me of using a virus that was ineffective against the military system? I was the warden for this island, which was once used to house the most dangerous criminals in the world! No one knows security systems the way I do! The only way the military could've deleted the virus is if they had outside help! If anyone's at fault here, it's definitely not me!"

As the three of them continued arguing, the other members soon joined in the blame game, all of them hearing the arguing from the meeting room. While they were arguing, a strong tremor suddenly rocked the island, almost knocking them all over and nearly causing the Metroid samples to fall off the table. After Dr. Kai secured them, he and the rest of the members rushed outside to see if something had caused the quake. Looking around the building, they found that there was a large smoking crater off to one side of the building, though it didn't look like anything had landed in it, which confused them.

Suddenly, another tremor rocked the island, knocking them all to the ground! After recovering from their fall, they looked back to see smoke rising from one side of the former prison building. Worried, they all rushed back inside, finding that a large hole had been carved in the roof and through all the floors beneath it. Dr. Kai ran to check on his workroom, hearing what sounded like loud footsteps coming from that direction. Strangely, the sound stopped before he could reach the doors. Hurrying inside, he went to check on all of the glass test tubes sitting on the table. "Whew... It seems none of them have been broken. But wait... I thought there were more tubes than this..." he muttered to himself.

All of a sudden, quakes began to rock the island, the sound of explosions being heard above the shaking. All the members of S.O.N.I.C.X. grabbed onto or hid under something stable, waiting for the explosions and shaking to end.

**A short while later, not far from Prison Island**

The Blue Typhoon, along with several military helicopters, were headed for the island while a separate team was deployed to locate and capture the Organizer. Commander Tower was aboard the leading helicopter, personally leading the attack to bring the criminal organization to justice. The fact that it included discharged personnel among its ranks was reason enough for him to go, though he was especially going because the S.O.N.I.C.X. reminded him of how he used to treat Shadow.

As they came within sight of the island, everyone quickly noticed that smoke was rising from various parts of the island, as if somebody had bombarded the entire island. The dock that stretched out into the water had been destroyed partway (causing the rest of it to collapse), most of the ground was now charred black, and parts of the former prison complex's exterior had collapsed. As he looked at it from the Blue Typhoon's bridge, Shadow muttered, "What happened here...?"

Rouge, who was leaning against a wall, said, "Looks like these boys might have gotten on someone else's bad side. Whoever was here first made sure to mess this place up pretty bad."

Knuckles commented, "I wonder if there's anything worth going down there for. Like Rouge said, it looks bad and the inside probably isn't much better."

Tails typed a few things on his control panel before saying, "According to the scanners, all this damage is recent. Like it just happened a little while ago. Whether those guys are here or not, there's bound to be something down there, even if it's only a hint at who did this."

Amy turned to Tails and asked, "Who do you think would've had a problem with these guys besides us, Tails?"

The fox shrugged, "I have no idea, Amy. We know that they have it in for Sonic, but I guess it's possible that he's not the only one they want revenge against."

Chris spoke, "We'll figure that out later. Right now, we've gotta get down there and see if we can capture them before they get away like they always do. Right, Shadow?" The black hedgehog gave a silent nod, looking towards the smoking Prison Island and wondering what he was feeling that was so unusual, yet so familiar.

**Meanwhile, aboard the SRL Station**

Returning to the familiar areas of the Main Deck, Sonic headed for the Operations Deck, aiming for the Operations Room. As he ran through the halls, he encountered no resistance from the X, his footsteps echoing slightly as he made his way up. Arriving at the Operations Deck, the hatch he entered from suddenly locked behind him, and he quickly discovered that all the hatches in the room were locked. He moved up to the Operations Room hatch to investigate...

As he set foot on the ledge holding the hatch, an explosion erupted from the wall behind him. Whirling around, he saw one of his X copies coming towards him in a Homing Attack! Sonic quickly leapt into a Sawnic Attack, jumping towards the copy in a spinning attack. They both suffered damage upon colliding with each other, both of them falling to the floor. Almost immediately upon landing, the STH-X pulled out its Ice Beam and tried to shoot him with several shots. Sonic answered the challenge by dashing towards the X, making use of his quick step ability to dodge the shots, slamming his fist into the copy's face when he was close enough, lifting it off the ground.

Although the hit stung, the copy was unfazed and curled into a Spin Dash as soon as it was close enough to the ground, spinning towards the hatch and bouncing off of it, redirecting itself back towards Sonic. Sonic managed to roll out of the way of the attack and brought out his blaster, charging it up as the copy uncurled and skidded to a stop. By the time it turned around, Sonic had finished charging and fired a shot at it, each bit of the spread shot hitting it and knocking it off of its feet.

It was pushed back towards the locked hatch leading to a Recharge Room and pushed its feet against it, jumping off towards Sonic, launching into another Spin Dash, this time hitting Sonic in the chest. Sonic fell to the ground as his copy kept spinning, bouncing around the room. As Sonic stood up, he was suddenly clipped by another spinning attack, the STH-X bouncing off the walls in an effort to move fast enough to confuse him. Although it did get a few hits in, Sonic just grinned to himself, "Come on, pal. If you actually knew anything about being a hedgehog, you wouldn't be leaving so many openings in your defenses."

He then tried something new, combining his Sawnic Attack with the Morph Ball mode, creating a makeshift Spin Dash combo. With the help of the Space Jump Boots, Sonic held a position in the air until the STH-X was right above him, at which point he struck. The attack hit cleanly, as the STH-X was not only broken out of its spin, but it also fell from the ceiling and hit the ground hard.

But the STH-X wasn't finished yet, as it stood up out of the small crater it created and brought out its Ice Beam, firing several shots at Sonic. Although they didn't cause any damage to Sonic, since he was still spinning, it did get him to drop his guard and the STH-X retaliated with a Homing Attack, both of them getting hurt by their collision. The battle continued in this way, Sonic and the X trading blows until, after Sonic suffered a bit more damage, the STH-X suddenly dropped to its knees, breathing hard. Sonic began to approach it, wondering if it was ready to give up.

As he got close, however, the STH-X suddenly stood up, the fur on its body beginning to change colors, its eyes also beginning to change. Its eerie white eyes suddenly became pink, psychotic swirls, its fingers becoming long and bony with claws at the ends, and its teeth turning into fangs. As he saw its fur turn yellow and the quills curve upwards, Sonic began to sweat as he thought, "_No way... Is it somehow tapping into Chaos energy and becoming Super Sonic?_"

However, possibly in an attempt to become as powerful as it could, the STH-X's body began to bulge, growing larger and coming to resemble a sort of demonic combination of Super Sonic and a Hornoad. As its tongue hung from its mouth, Sonic thought to himself, "_Maybe I shouldn't be so worried... It all depends on what that thing can do now that it looks... ugh... like that._" Suddenly, the STH-X leapt up, attempting to crush Sonic underneath it. Sonic used the jets in his boots to dash out of the way, rolling across the ground while charging his beam. As the creature turned around to face him, he let the charged attack loose, the beam hitting it directly in the face.

The beast gave off a pained roar and attempted to crush him again. Sonic continued to dodge the jumps and shoot it with charged beam shots. Clearly, this mutation was a bad desperate attempt on the X's part, as it soon collapsed to the ground with a weak growl. Its body then morphed, reverting to its Core-X state. Since it had somehow absorbed the Ice Beam into itself, the Core-X had an eye and fired Ice Beam shots at Sonic. He quickly dealt with it while avoiding the Ice Beam shots and soon cracked the hard shell, the X inside floating in the middle of the room. Before Sonic could grab it, however, it floated away, escaping the same way it got in. Sonic considered pursuing it for a moment before shrugging, "Eh, it's not such a big deal. I'm just about done here anyway."

Turning back to look up at the Operations Room hatch, he saw that the lock had disengaged. He quickly jumped up to the ledge and ran through the hatch. Running over to the computer console, he eyed the controls for a minute before figuring it out somewhat, at which point he began typing on the computer's keyboard. After a moment, the computer screen changed from blue to green, reading 'Orbit change implemented. 3 minutes to impact.' At the same time, the female computer voice spoke, "Propulsion sequence activated. Destination: Planet SR388."

Sonic grinned to himself, "Well, that did it. Now it's time to get the heck out of here!" As the station rumbled briefly from its propulsion sequence starting up, Sonic activated the Speed Booster and ran out of the Operations Room, hurrying to the Docking Bays.

**Meanwhile, back on Earth, Prison Island**

Having landed on the island without making their presence known, Commander Tower formed two teams to cover both ways leading to the location of the meeting room so that they didn't end up ambushed by any unwanted guests. Both teams encountered no resistance, as Li Yan's Bruiser Boys were cowering in one of the rooms and Warden Watcher's traps and 'best' robots were lying on the ground as scraps. Coming upon the two hallways leading to the meeting room, Espio camouflaged himself and took the back way while the one team quietly moved down the other hall and the other followed a distance behind Espio, waiting for the chance to strike.

As Espio came within sight of the door to the meeting room, he could hear the Organizer's voice from the other side, shouting, "I don't care whose fault this is! This was meant to be a group effort, and clearly none of you were able to complete your part correctly!"

Espio grabbed the door handle and slowly turned it, peeking inside. All of the members were facing the large screen as they stood, listening to the Organizer cuss them out. Seeing as nobody seemed to be looking at the door, he quietly pushed it open to make a big enough crack to slip through and began to sneak up behind them. As he tiptoed, Dr. Kai stammered, "B-but Mr. Organizer! The plan was perfect! Somehow, Sonic's friends managed to unravel things right out from under us!"

The Organizer shouted, "I don't want to hear any excuses, Dr. Kai! Now that you've inadvertently leaked everything to the military, all of you are on your own! I'm not going to jail because of your incompetence!"

Suddenly, Espio spoke, "Unfortunately for you, you will." As the members of S.O.N.I.C.X. turned around, Espio returned to his normal coloration as he kicked a Leaf Swirl at them. By the time the leaves died down and they could see again, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Charmy, Vector, Topaz, Chris, Chuck, Commander Tower, and the military troops had come through both entries and surrounded the group.

Commander Tower spoke, "All of you are under arrest. And, like Espio said, that includes you, Captain Westwood."

The silhouetted figure spoke, "Of course you would know it's me, Commander Tower. You never could forget a face."

Shadow spoke, "Shut up. Your conspiracy days are over." Before Captain Westwood could attempt to challenge what Shadow said, his attention was suddenly diverted to soldiers arriving at his location and telling him to surrender.

After a few minutes, all the members of S.O.N.I.C.X. were handcuffed and ready to be sent to prison. Before they could start moving, however, Captain Westwood spoke, "You may have brought down our society, but we'll still fulfill our original purpose. Look here." He then pushed a button and suddenly, the feed from an SRL Station security camera appeared on the screen.

**SRL Station, Docking Bays**

After getting through the corridor leading into the station, which looked like it had been attacked by something violent, Sonic ran into the hanger, only to find that his ship was gone! He also noticed that the docking bay door looked like it had been destroyed and there was a shell left behind by an evolving Metroid sitting where it had been. As Sonic looked around worriedly, the owner of the shell suddenly burst through the nearby wall.

Sonic gasped as he saw that the creature that came through the wall was a fully grown Omega Metroid! It gave off a loud screech after it landed, fixing its eyes on him. Sonic tried firing shots, charged shots, and Ice Missiles at it, but none of them did anything to the creature. As it began to walk closer towards him, Sonic curled into a Morph Ball and activated the Sawnic Attack, leaping towards the Omega Metroid. Before he could reach it, however, it swung its claw back and slashed at him.

Its attack hit the mark, as it cut right through the attack and slashed across Sonic's suit. The claws cut right through the suit and slightly into Sonic's skin, sending him flying back as a splatter was heard. Sonic landed on his back hard, pushing himself slightly off of his back with his right hand as his left hand attempted to apply pressure to where he had been attacked. It wasn't enough, though; even though the claws only glanced his skin, they still made a deep cut. Although his suit was screaming alerts at him through his HUD, Sonic couldn't muster the strength to stand back up, clutching his side as the Omega Metroid began to approach him.

**Prison Island**

"No! Sonic, get up!" Tails cried, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. The security camera footage that Captain Westwood brought up very clearly showed the hanger, providing a sideways view of what was happening. Even though Sonic was in his suit, his friends could tell it was him, and they knew he was in trouble.

Dr. Kai smirked, "I see. So one of the Metroids did manage to escape from the Restricted Lab and Sector 1 before reaching its Omega stage... Fascinating!"

Shadow roughly grabbed the doctor's lab coat, dragged him down to eye level, and said, "You tell that thing to back off... NOW!"

Dr. Kai replied, "What do you expect me to do? It's just an animal. Even if I could somehow communicate with the station, it won't just do whatever I tell it to do. Unfortunately for you, it looks like this is the end of Sonic after all!"

Amy cried, "No! This can't be happening! Not to Sonic!"

Suddenly, Rouge grabbed her shoulder and said, "Don't go to tears on us now, Amy! Look! Something's happening!" Everyone turned their attention back to the screen as something new appeared on it.

**SRL Station, Docking Bays**

Sonic looked up, seeing the blue X that he had battled on the Operations Deck floating between him and the Omega Metroid. The Omega Metroid stopped walking as it saw the X float for a second before it took on Sonic's shape again. Once it landed, it pulled its Ice Beam, which it had retained after being destroyed, off of its back and ran up to the Omega Metroid. It then began firing shots into the creature's chest, the Metroid screaming in pain as the cold shots hit it.

The Omega Metroid backed up to the wall, the STH-X moving closer and firing more Ice Beam shots into its chest. Although it continued to fire shots, the Omega Metroid managed to pull its claw back and slash the STH-X. The attack sent the STH-X flying backwards, its left arm being separated from its 'body' due to the slash. It didn't fly very far, though, as, due to it still being weak, it soon reverted to its Core-X shape, absorbing the Ice Beam again and floating just a short distance above Sonic as the Omega Metroid drooled at the sight of it. Knowing it was now or never, Sonic got to his feet and, still clutching his side, leapt up and absorbed the STH-X.

After it was completely absorbed, the appearance of Sonic's suit changed one more time. The back of it now sported all of Sonic's quills, it had ears for Sonic's own to rest comfortably in, and the visor was once again black. It was mostly Sonic blue, though areas like his shoulders and his wrists were yellow. His gloves were now gray and his boots were the same coloration as his shoes, although the white stripe now surrounded the lower part of his leg. Sonic's cut also healed, and the hole in the suit was repaired as well.

The Omega Metroid roared angrily at Sonic for stealing its meal and began to approach him again. Sonic calmly flipped his arms around and called out two blasters, charging them up and releasing a newly obtained Ice Beam from them! The Omega Metroid didn't like that any better than when the STH-X was attacking it, but it was determined not to let a potential meal get away. Sonic continued to pump charged Ice Beam shots into its chest while easily avoiding its attacks, feeling completely like himself after absorbing the STH-X.

The Omega Metroid soon collapsed onto the floor, growling weakly at Sonic as he stared at it triumphantly. His attention was then directed towards the broken hanger door as he heard the sound of engines and saw that it was his ship! Leaving the Omega Metroid behind, Sonic dashed towards the broken door, igniting his Space Jump Boots as he neared the opening, heading for his ship, which was following alongside the SRL Station. As he got close, the airlock door opened and Sonic landed inside, the door closing afterwards.

After the airlock was done depressurizing, Sonic walked into his ship and was surprised to see the Etecoons and Dachoras he had rescued earlier standing at the ship's controls. His surprise was quickly replaced by gratitude, realizing that they had gotten his ship out of harm's way. They seemed glad to see him as well and, after he had taken his seat, they broke away from the side of the station. They then set the ship to go as fast it could, moving away from SR388 as the SRL Station began to get closer to it.

Soon, there was a massive explosion as the SRL Station impacted SR388, engulfing the entire planet in a fiery explosion as the explosives on board the station detonated. But Sonic, the Etecoons, and the Dachoras were far away from the planet by the time that happened. After he had thanked him, the mother Etecoon curled up in the back of the ship, each of the Dachoras snuggling up against her, one on top of the other, while the baby Dachora fell asleep on its mother's back. Sonic smiled at them for a minute before turning his attention back to the controls, setting the ship on a course back to Earth.

**Meanwhile, Prison Island**

"Yay! Sonic did it!" Cream cheered, Cheese cheering as well.

"Heh, that was pretty impressive, even for him," Knuckles smiled. All of Sonic's other friends, except for Shadow and Omega, were also happy for Sonic's victory over the Omega Metroid and his escape, while the members of S.O.N.I.C.X. were fuming.

"NO! He won AGAIN!" Hector Dragg groaned.

"That's impossible! That was an Ice Beam that Sonic used to defeat the Omega Metroid! His cellular makeup should've rejected that! How did he gain that ability?" Dr. Kai yelled.

Topaz spoke, "I guess that's something you'll have to figure out while you're in prison. Most of you are going to be locked away for a long time, after all. Plenty of time for you to find out the reason, don't you think?" With that, all of the members were led down the hallways out, followed by Sonic's friends while the soldiers that captured Captain Westwood did likewise. The criminal organization, S.O.N.I.C.X., was finished.

* * *

So, we're just about at the end. Just a couple of quick notes on this chapter.

When the STH-X is initially changing into the second phase, it's Super Sonic-like appearance is a reference to STC's version of Super Sonic. It still has the psychotic swirls after it has fully changed.

The Omega Suit (I'm just using one of the fan names for it) looks like the first Mecha Sonic from the Archie STH series that appeared in issues #39, #40 (flashback), and the Mecha Madness special.

I realize that there's a mention of blood here, but like with chapter 3, it's only a brief one.

Music:

Prison Island Attack - Boss 4 (Sonic Adventure 2)

Original vs. Copy - Egg Viper/Walker (Sonic Adventure)

Changing the Orbit, Catching the S.O.N.I.C.X. - Mad Gear Zone Act 3 (Sonic the Hedgehog 4)

Omega Metroid Attacks! - Mother Brain (Super Metroid)

Sonic Fully Restored - Burning Way Past Cool (Sonic SatAM) (Unused)

End of Mission, End of S.O.N.I.C.X. - Theme of Samus Aran, Galactic Warrior (Super Metroid)


	20. Epilogue

**G.U.N. HQ, Laboratory**

"Don't worry about a thing, Sonic! The lock that Dr. Kai put on this suit is tricky, but it's nothing I can't handle!" Tails assured his big brother, who was sitting in a dentist office-style chair as Tails was working on his suit with Chuck nearby. Chuck would hand Tails the tools he needed, but stayed back so Tails could have enough working room to look over the inner workings of the suit.

During the trip back to Earth, Sonic found that he could not remove his suit the way Dr. Kai told him he could. After receiving clearance to land at the airfield Hangar, Tails was the first to greet him, followed by everyone else. While he was talking with Tails, he asked the fox if he would take a look at the mechanisms in his suit. That led to Tails discovering that it was possible to manually deactivate the lock.

"It's not that I don't like this suit, but I'd really like to be back to my old self now. Besides, I know if anyone could figure out how to undo a mechanical lock, it's you, buddy!" Sonic reassured Tails. This brought a smile to the fox's face as he worked, knowing that Sonic had faith in him. Sonic sat patiently through the whole process, knowing it would go faster if he didn't start squirming, as well as just enjoying a nice quiet moment without having to be alert every second.

Soon, Tails spoke, "I think I got it! Is your HUD saying anything, Sonic?" Sonic glanced at his visor, which displayed, 'Security lock disengaged. Mind link enabled.'

Sonic replied, "Let's see..." He glanced over at his left arm and focused his thoughts. Suddenly, pieces of the suit began to gravitate away from his arm, revealing his regular arm underneath. He then focused again, causing the bits to return to normal. Sonic said, "Yeah, I'd say you got it, Tails!"

Tails smiled, "All right! I knew I could do it! And what you just did was pretty awesome!"

Chuck nodded, "I have to agree with Sonic, Tails. You did an excellent job with removing the lock. Certainly not an easy feat for most people. And I must say, I am impressed with the technology in that suit."

Sonic stood up out of the chair and slipped off the helmet, shaking his head a moment to get his quills the way he liked them before saying, "Yeah, it's something, all right. Even the helmet's got a lot of stuff in it. Wanna take a look?" Both Tails and Chuck nodded, Sonic handing the helmet over to them.

While they were looking it over, Commander Tower walked in and said, "Well, while I'm relieved that you're okay and back to normal, Sonic, I believe you have quite a bit of explaining to do."

Sonic asked, "Explaining? About what? ...Oh wait, I know what."

Commander Tower nodded, "While I myself am opposed to some of the research that was being done aboard the SRL Station, there is no denying that there was plenty of other research being conducted that was important. Since it seems that the station was destroyed, along with SR388, all of that research is now lost. I would like to know what possessed you to do such a thing."

Suddenly, Chuck asked, "What's this?" Both Sonic and Commander Tower turned to look at both him and Tails, both of them looking at Sonic's helmet curiously. Chuck reached inside the helmet and pulled something out. It appeared to be a little black object that had what looked like a speaker attached to its side. After examining it a moment, he said, "It's a mini-camera! And it was attached in such a way that it could see things from Sonic's eyes!"

Tails turned to Sonic and asked, "Sonic, did you know that was there?"

Sonic shook his head, "No way, Tails! This is the first I'm hearing of this. Guess those guys were spying on me the whole time I was aboard the station. Must've been for Dr. Kai's research or something." He then had a thought and turned to Commander Tower, saying, "If that's really the case, then what's been captured on that camera would probably explain what happened better than I could!"

Commander Tower nodded, "I agree. I'll take the camera and have one of our staff retrieve the film. While we're doing that, head over to the medical ward and have the doctors look at you." Sonic nodded and took his helmet back from Tails, putting it on and following Commander Tower out of the lab with Tails and Chuck following. After he was told where the medical ward was, he headed in that direction while Tails and Chuck followed the commander.

**Later, the Briefing Room**

Sonic strolled into the Briefing Room without his suit on, munching on a cookie while holding a can of juice. His left arm had a bandage on it partway up, but otherwise, he seemed just fine. As he leaned against the doorway, he noticed that Commander Tower, Tails, Chuck, Topaz, Shadow, and Rouge weren't the only ones there. Knuckles, the Chaotix, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Chris were there as well. He then stole a glance towards the opposite walls, seeing the moment when he was fighting the Yakuza when the power was out, taking another bite of his cookie as he watched.

Tails and Chris, who were sitting near the back, heard him chewing and turned to look, their eyes brightening as they saw him. Noticing them, Sonic walked over and leaned on the side of Tails' chair, whispering, "So what's the situation so far, little bud?"

Tails whispered back, "I don't know, Sonic. The commander hasn't said much during this whole thing, though it looks like you might be getting his support. You've already got Shadow's, after all."

Chris asked, "Sonic, why do you have a bandage on your arm? Did you get cut while you were aboard the station?"

Sonic glanced at it a moment before replying, "No, nothing like that, Chris. The doctor just took a blood sample from me while they were looking at me. Something about making sure that everything was okay or something. Not sure." He then took a sip of his juice as the three of them turned their attention back to the recording.

A while later, the recording ended and the lights came on inside the room. Silence ruled the Briefing Room for a few moments, the commander soon turning towards Sonic. After a moment, he spoke, "Sonic... Under normal circumstances, destroying something like a space station without a plausible reason would be grounds for discharge or arrest. However, this was certainly anything but normal. And, as you said, the S.O.N.I.C.X. were underestimating these X and surely would've killed every living thing on the Earth and allowed them to spread even farther throughout the universe. As such, I agree that you did the right thing to resolve that situation, so you are innocent of any possible charges."

Amy cheered and leapt towards Sonic, just about strangling him when she hugged him. "Oh Sonic! I'm so glad you're okay and that you stopped those icky things!"

Sonic laid a hand on her back and replied, "Uh, thanks Amy. I just did what I thought was right."

Commander Tower then spoke up, "I'd just like to remind you not to make a habit of doing such things. Destroying Dr. Eggman's creations is good, but don't start destroying space stations and planets as well."

Sonic grinned nervously, "I'll be sure not to, Commander Tower. After all, I'm a hedgehog, not an intergalactic bounty hunter. By the way, what's going to happen to the Etecoons and Dachoras?"

Commander Tower replied, "They were originally found on Planet Zebes. For now, we'll find an environment for them to live in here, but if Zebes is better for them, I'll send out a team to return them there." With that, Sonic and the commander saluted each other before everyone except Shadow and Rouge left the room, Knuckles saying that he wanted to get the Master Emerald back to Angel Island as soon as possible and Commander Tower saying he would contact Sam Speed and let him know that the Chaotix did their job. Sonic and Shadow shared one last respectful look to each other before the blue hedgehog left the room.

Rouge looked at Shadow and teased, "That was quite a look you two shared. Thinking about anything in particular?" Shadow just looked back at her, not really wanting to play along with her teasing at the moment.

Commander Tower spoke up, "As for the both of you, we are currently keeping the alien Drakon in a high security area with plenty of water and examining the data that Omega collected. Do either of you know what this Drakon Empire was looking for on Planet Alinos?"

Shadow replied, "No, commander. However, it seems that there is talk of some sort of power being kept within the Alimbic Cluster. Perhaps the Drakons were searching for this power in an effort to expand their empire."

Commander Tower nodded, "I see. I will have a team look into this matter further to determine the truth behind it. As everything else has been explained between the both of you and Sonic's testimony, that is all for your debriefing. Dismissed!" Both Shadow and Rouge saluted Commander Tower, who saluted them back, and left, heading for the Recreation Room, Rouge teasing Shadow a bit more on the way.

**Meanwhile, aboard the Blue Typhoon**

After everyone had boarded the Blue Typhoon, Tails set a course for the Mystic Ruins so he could put the ship back in its hanger until it was needed again. Afterwards, Sonic promised to help Knuckles take the Master Emerald back to Angel Island while Tails flew the Chaotix back to their detective office before heading back to the Thorndyke mansion.

Along the way, Sonic, who was leaning next to Amy's control panel, turned to Tails and asked, "You know, I never asked, but what happened to those S.O.N.I.C.X. guys? I know they didn't get away with their plans, but what are they doing now?"

Tails replied, "Probably figuring out what it's like to have to pay for your crimes. All of them are gonna be in a prison for a long time!"

Knuckles nodded, "Yeah, that commander guy personally gave them their sentences. Li Yan will probably be the first one back on the street. He's mostly in jail now since his gang has caused people trouble in the past. That's about it; he didn't really do anything wrong while he was with the S.O.N.I.C.X., so he'll probably be out in a couple months at least."

Sonic chuckled, "Yeah, he didn't really have a personal vendetta against me like the rest of them did. It's no wonder he never really took an active role in their plots. Who's gonna be locked up the longest?"

Espio answered, "It's a bit of a three-way tie between Card Passer, Captain Westwood, and Dr. Kai for the longest. Card Passer was already jailed for launching that unauthorized attack against Dr. Eggman, so this is his second offense. Considering it's conspiracy, that just makes his sentence that much longer."

Vector then spoke, "Yeah, and that Westwood guy... what was their nickname for him? Cowboy? Well, whatever. He's obviously not getting off easy since he started that group in the first place, plus all that law-breaking he did before that. Like that whole deal with that alien weapon he uncovered? All that's adding onto his time!"

Charmy then piped up, "Yeah, and that Kai guy is definitely going to be in jail for a long time! He did some of the worst things out of that entire group! What a rotten guy!"

Sonic nodded, "Well, that's what happens to people who are ungrateful, I guess. And I'm guessing that Hector Dragg, Howard Watcher, and Jerome Wise aren't getting much better?"

Chuck nodded, "You would be right about that, Sonic. Hector is probably getting the worst out of those three, considering he kidnapped the president that one time. Watcher's probably not going to be in as long as Jerome is, considering that he went rogue just for losing his job while Wise lost his job for negotiating with Dr. Eggman. I'm sure the commander was thinking about that when he had them sent to prison."

Sonic chuckled, "I'm sure he was. So how did that raid go?"

Chris said, "It was kind of tense, since we weren't sure whether we'd run into any trouble while we were inside the complex, but otherwise, it was kind of boring. So it wouldn't have been very exciting for you, Sonic."

Tails shrugged, "Doesn't matter now. But I wonder what happened to the Metroid samples that Dr. Kai said were missing? He said that they were in the holder with the other test tubes that were recovered and he knows they didn't break, so what could've happened to them?" No one was sure how to answer this, so everyone stopped talking for a little while.

A little later, they reached Tails' workshop in the Mystic Ruins, the hidden hanger doors opening to the Blue Typhoon's hanger. After it had landed and was locked in place, they disconnected the Master Emerald from the energy chamber and rode the elevator back up to the main workshop. Sonic carried Knuckles back to Angel Island afterwards, since the Master Emerald was too big for him to glide with, while Tails and everyone else climbed into the X-Tornado, heading for Station Square.

After Sonic dropped Knuckles off, the two rivals shared a friendly wave before Sonic started running back towards Station Square on top of the water, Angel Island beginning to float in the sky above the water again. Upon returning to the city, Sonic saw that the S-Team had been called out and ran up to Sam's car, asking what was going on. His rival explained that Dr. Eggman was attacking with his Egg Walker again and that Tails and Amy were already there. Grinning at the opportunity to get back to business and catch up with Eggman after not seeing him for a few days, Sonic ran on ahead to go meet up with Amy and Tails.

**Meanwhile, G.U.N. HQ Medical Ward**

The doctor that had looked Sonic over was standing over a microscope, looking down at part of Sonic's blood sample when a scientist came up to him and asked, "Does Sonic's sample still contain the Metroid DNA he received from the vaccine while he was in the hospital?"

The doctor looked up and said, "Yes, and it contains the DNA of everything he absorbed while he was aboard the SRL Station. With the proper techniques, enough could be extracted from each of the bits in the blood sample to recreate all the creatures he encountered."

The scientist nodded, "Perfect. There's still that other station with the simulated environments. It would be a perfect place for new bio-weapons to grow..."

**Meanwhile, on an unknown planet**

The group of aliens from the space ship above Prison Island were walking down a hallway, heading for their leader's chamber. As they walked, two of them were each holding a test tube that was small by their standards, the green liquid inside glowing...

**Later, back on Earth**

Sonic was sitting on the balcony railing of the Thorndyke mansion while Tails and Chris stood nearby, all of them looking up at the stars in the night sky. It had been a pretty good day for all of them. After defeating Eggman's Egg Walker, Sonic and Tails went off on a little run around the Neo Green Hill Zone before meeting up with Chris and his friends at Pop's ice cream parlor. Thankfully, they were there at a time when Milan Ramada wasn't, so they were able to enjoy ice cream and frosty chocolate milkshakes without having to deal with Chris' nemesis.

As they looked up at the sky, Chris asked, "Hey Sonic... While the military was apprehending the S.O.N.I.C.X., we saw what happened during your fight with the Omega Metroid. Dr. Kai said that you shouldn't have been able to use that beam you used to defeat it. He said it was due to your cellular makeup or something. Do you think he was lying?"

Sonic replied, "I don't know, Chris. After all, he did say the same thing to me before I went to Sector 5 for the first time. I'm just glad it worked against that Metroid, and the fact that the STH-X healed me as well was great too."

Tails snapped his fingers, "I think I've got it!" Both Sonic and Chris turned to look at him. He explained, "Even though the X could mimic any living thing they came across, the STH-X was an X that was specifically mimicking Sonic. When you absorbed it, you must've basically absorbed yourself, Sonic. In other words, the part of your being that was damaged by the X infection was fixed when you absorbed that Core-X, which reset your cellular structure back to the way it was, thus allowing you to use the Ice Beam!"

Sonic scratched his a head a moment before replying, "Uh, that's a lot of information, Tails. But that would explain why, after I absorbed it, I felt more like myself than I did throughout that whole mission."

Chris nodded, "It does seem kind of complicated, but I think I get it, Tails. Though I wonder why the Omega Metroid attacked Sonic in the first place while the Metroids that were in the Restricted Lab ignored him?"

Tails shrugged, "Yeah, that's something I don't get, either. Maybe the Omega Metroid could see that Sonic wasn't really a Metroid, even if he had the DNA of one inside him..."

Sonic patted the fox on his head, "Ah, don't worry about it, buddy. You can think about it if you want to, but unless we run into any other Metroids, I don't think it'll be much of an issue." Tails smiled at that.

Suddenly, the sliding door opened and Amy walked out, saying, "Hey! Ella and I just got done making some pie! Are you guys interested?"

Tails said, "I know I am! How about you, Chris?"

Chris nodded, "Sure, sounds great! What about you, Sonic?"

Sonic replied, "You guys go on ahead. I'll just be out here another minute or two."

As she turned around, Amy said, "Okay, I'll make sure to save a slice for you!"

After Tails and Chris went inside, Sonic turned his attention back to the starry night. As he gazed up at the stars, his mind started wandering, wondering what other adventures could be found out there in the universe. Obviously, keeping the people of Earth safe from Dr. Eggman was his most important duty, but if there was ever any down time between Eggman's attacks, he was definitely interested in finding other planets to explore.

**THE END.**

**SEE YOU NEXT MISSION.**

* * *

Music:

Cracking the Lock - Pokémon Lab (Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness)

The Decision - Title/Menu Screen (Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2)

Getting Back to Normal - Gunship Theme (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption)

Secret Plots - Those Who Come Closer (Final Fantasy X)

Looking to the Night Sky - Dreams of an Absolution (Starry Night Remix)

And that's the end of my first attempt at writing Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction. I have to say, the ending didn't come out quite the way I wanted it to, but I'm not going to fiddle around with it forever either. I hope you guys get what I was going for, at least.

So yeah, I included those two extra scenes in case I ever wanted to expand on this story. Make a possible sequel believeable. At this point, I'm undecided, but based on the story overall, I could have a plot based on the Metroid Prime Trilogy, MP Hunters, or Metroid: Other M.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this. As nice as it is for me, I like it when people read my work and enjoy it. Guess I'll catch you later!


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